John Brooke, 2nd Viscount Brookeborough
John Warden Brooke, 2nd Viscount Brookeborough, PC (NI) (9 November 1922 – 5 March 1987) was a Northern Irish politician. He was the son of Basil Brooke, 1st Viscount Brookeborough, third Prime Minister of Northern Ireland.
The Viscount Brookeborough | |
|---|---|
| Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland | |
| In office 1970–1972 | |
| Preceded by | Daniel McGladdery |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| In office 19 August 1973 – 5 March 1987 Hereditary Peerage | |
| Preceded by | The 1st Viscount Brookeborough |
| Succeeded by | The 3rd Viscount Brookeborough |
| Member of the Northern Ireland Parliament for Lisnaskea | |
| In office 22 March 1968 – 28 June 1973 | |
| Preceded by | Basil Brooke |
| Succeeded by | constituency abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 November 1922 |
| Died | 5 March 1987 |
| Political party | Ulster Unionist Party |
Early life
He was educated at Eton College. During the Second World War he served in the British Army in North Africa, Italy and Germany. He was on the personal staff of Field Marshal Sir Harold Alexander (later created Lord Alexander). He was an Aide-de-Camp to Field Marshal Lord Wavell, the Viceroy of India, early in 1947.
In 1934, his father claimed in the House of Commons of Northern Ireland at Stormont that there had been a plot to kidnap the young John Brooke by Irish nationalists during Sir Basil Brooke's time as Commandant of the Ulster Special Constabulary. This report led Sir Basil (as he then was) to dismiss every Catholic worker in his employ, for which he was accused of sectarianism.[1]
Political career
As Captain John Brooke, he was elected to Fermanagh County Council for the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) in 1947, serving until 1973, and was Chairman of the council from 1961 to 1973. He was appointed High Sheriff of Fermanagh for 1955. He succeeded his father as the UUP Stormont MP for Lisnaskea in a by-election on 22 March 1968. He retained that seat until the abolition of the Parliament of Northern Ireland in 1973.
Brookeborough (when he was still Captain Brooke) was a member of a dissident group of Ulster Unionist backbench MPs who campaigned for the removal of Terence O'Neill as Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. When O'Neill finally resigned in April 1969 his successor, Major James Chichester-Clark, brought some of this dissident group into his government. Capt. Brooke was made Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Commerce (1969–1970), and then Parliamentary Secretary at the Department of the Prime Minister (1970–1972). Under Brian Faulkner's premiership, he was Government Chief Whip (1971–1972) and also served in the Cabinet from 1971 as Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance.
In the Northern Ireland Assembly (1973–74) he represented North Down. When the Unionist Party of Northern Ireland (UPNI) was founded by pro-Sunningdale Agreement members of the UUP, Brooke joined in 1974 and was again elected for North Down to the Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention (1975–76). He also represented the views of the UPNI in the House of Lords from 1973.
At 5:13pm on 28 March 1972, Capt. Brooke delivered the final speech from the dispatch box in the House of Commons of Northern Ireland at Stormont prior to the proroguing of the Parliament of Northern Ireland by Edward Heath's Conservative government. In it, he quoted from a poem by Rudyard Kipling entitled Ulster, written in 1914, about the time his father's involvement in Ulster loyalism might be said to have begun. It ended:
"Before an empire's eyes the traitor claims his price.
What need of further lies? We are the sacrifice."
Family
Lord Brookeborough married Rosemary Chichester, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur O'Neill Cubitt Chichester, of Galgorm Castle, County Antrim, in 1949. They had five children: Alan, Christopher, Juliana, Melinda and Susanna. Rosemary, Lady Brookeborough, died in January 2007. She had lived at Ashbrooke House, the dower house on the family's Colebrooke Estate near Brookeborough in County Fermanagh, for many years.
See also
- List of Northern Ireland Members of the House of Lords
References
- Northern Ireland House of Commons Official Report, Vol 34 Col 1116–1117
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Viscount Brookeborough
| Parliament of Northern Ireland | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Basil Brooke |
Member of Parliament for Lisnaskea 1968–1973 |
Parliament abolished |
| Northern Ireland Assembly (1973) | ||
| New assembly | Assembly Member for North Down 1973–1974 |
Assembly abolished |
| Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention | ||
| New convention | Member for North Down 1975–1976 |
Convention dissolved |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by John Dobson |
Ulster Unionist Chief Whip 1971–1972 |
Office abolished |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Vacant |
Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Commerce and Production 1969–1971 |
Succeeded by Office abolished |
| Preceded by Daniel McGladdery |
Parliamentary Secretary, Department of the Prime Minister (Northern Ireland) 1970–1972 |
Office abolished |
| New office | Minister of State, Ministry of Finance 1971–1972 |
Office abolished |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by Basil Brooke |
Viscount Brookeborough 1973–1987 |
Succeeded by Alan Brooke |