Brooke Henry

Brooke, Henry, author, was born at the beginning of last century, at county Cavan, where, at Rantavan, his father held lands. Coming to London to study law, he won the friendship of Pope, and in 1735 published his Universal Beauty, which is said to have furnished the groundwork of Erasmus Darwin's Botanic Garden. In 1739 appeared his tragedy Gustavus Vasa, which, after being rehearsed for five weeks preliminary to being produced at Drury Lane, was prohibited by the Lord Chamberlain. In 1740 he returned to Ireland, taking up his residence at Dublin, where he was appointed barrack-master, and where he wrote numerous works. He also appears to have been the first editor of the Freeman's Journal, founded at Dublin in 1763. He died in 1783 in a state of mental decay. The Fool of Quality, republished in 1859 with a preface by Charles Kingsley, is the only one of his works which can be said to be known to-day.