Charles Henry Brooks was born on the 16 August 1855 in Elmbridge, England. Initially he was employed by the Midlands Railways Company, and later joined the Derbyshire and London Police having served with them for almost three years before venturing out to the Colonies and Queensland.
Charles Brooks was sworn in as a constable on the 19 September 1878, aged 23 years. In 1881 he married Johanna Nankiwell and they had six sons and one daughter. He served at Brisbane initially and was transferred to Maryborough, Mount Perry, East Bundaberg, and finally Mackay. At the time of his promotion to acting sergeant in 1895, Inspector Meldrum found Brooks “to be intelligent and zealous in the performance of his duties”. Five years later, Senior Inspector Douglas described him as “a most excellent mounted man, intelligent and active”.
Acting Sergeant Charles Henry Brooks was awarded an Imperial Service Medal in 1916 for his dedication to duty, having served for over 35 years. Image No. PM3937 courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
Brooks was appointed the watch-house keeper at Mackay, or formally known as the Superintendent of Mackay Prison on the 8 April 1903. His wife was employed as the Matron. He remained in this position until he was superannuated on 16 August 1915. He had served the Mackay community for 20 years in his capacity as a police officer, and like so many other officers had become an integral member of the community.
Even before retirement Brooks had a talent for the breeding and showing of poultry. In 1909 in the non-competitive section he had a white-laced Houdan Cock, and was highly commended for his white Leghorns consisting of two Hens and a Cock, which were much admired.
Grandchildren of Charles Henry Brooks with empty hen house, Mackay c1926. Granddad off to the show perhaps? Image courtesy of the Brooks family.
In June 1910 a group of gentlemen met and formed the Mackay Poultry and Kennel Club. Brooks was part of a sub-committee to draw up the rules. At that same time a Mr. Hines, a visiting poultry expert from the Gatton College addressed this newly formed group on how to scientifically improve “egg production and general development of the bird”. Mr. Hines also talked about his visit to Mr. Brook’s poultry yard and his specialising in White Leghorns. “Mr. Hines paid a warm tribute to the enthusiasm displayed by Mr. Brooks and to his trap-nesting system of detecting his best layers. Mr. Brook’s methods are as thorough as his small space allows, and the lecturer advised anyone interested in poultry to pay a visit to this yard. It may be mentioned that Mr. Brooks has a White Leghorn hen that has laid 292 eggs from the 21st June, 1909 up till yesterday (17th June), and with three days to go he will nearly have reached the 300. This is a hen which was bred by Mr. Brooks”. (Daily Mercury, Mackay, Monday 20 June 1910) The hen managed to lay a grand total of 296.
During May 1911, Mr. Brooks dispatched two of his white leghorn cockerels to Wooldridge Bros., of the Range Egg and Poultry Farm, Toowoomba, which ran one of the largest poultry plants in Queensland. They were purchased for stud purposes in preference to any other strain in the Commonwealth. In 1912, Mr. Brooks purchased from Mr. Padman of Adelaide, a famous poultry prize winner, a white leghorn cockerel to add to his stock. Mr. Brooks was not the only one keen to improve the quality of his chooks.
A white Leghorn. Image courtesy of ‘Chicken Breeds List’.
In 1926, Charles Brooks left Mackay to live with his daughter at Rosewood. He was a poultry steward at the Rosewood Show Society for a number of years, and involved himself in a number of other societies. He died there on 24 June 1935, and after the funeral his body was transported to Mackay where he was buried.
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This information has been provided by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available. The article was written by Assistant Curator Virginia Gordon.
The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au
“FROM the VAULT – A/Sergeant Brooks and his chooks” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence.
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