John Henry Brooke

Hon. John Henry Brooke MLA (15 May 1826 – 8 January 1902) was a colonial Victorian politician born in Boston, Lincolnshire, to journalist John Brooke and Mary Ann. He apprenticed as a printer, worked at the *Lincolnshire Times*, and moved to Melbourne around 1852–1853, where he became a reporter for the *Melbourne Morning Herald*. He later managed supplies for the Legislative Council Club and superintendent of works for the Victorian Exhibition in 1854. Brooke also suggested and managed refreshment rooms for the Hobson's Bay Railway Company.

Elected to Victoria’s Legislative Assembly in November 1856, he represented Geelong until 1859 and Geelong West until 1864. As Commissioner of Crown Lands under the Heales administration (November 1860–November 1861), he opposed the Haines Land Bill, which aimed to grant annual licences to squatters. Brooke introduced occupation licences for crown lands for cultivation, despite criticism from the Legislative Council. His policies were supported by voters and approved by the new Assembly in 1861 but faced ongoing opposition.

In 1867, he moved to Japan, where he became editor and proprietor of the *Japan Daily Herald*. Brooke married Harriet Williamson in 1849; they had six children. Notable descendants include painter Edmund Walpole Brooke (1865–1938), diplomat Emilio de Ojeda y Perpiñán (husband to Julia Brooke), and grandsons Alfred Brooke-Smith and Jaime de Ojeda y Eiseley.