Henry Brooker & Harriet Rowland

Henry & Harriet were my maternal great-grandparents. 

Henry Brooker (1866-1944)

Henry Brooker was born on October 9, 1866, in Brighton, England, the son of James Brooker and Rosina (Langridge) Brooker. James and Rosina had five children, though only three survived past infancy: James (1863–1900), Henry (1866–1944), and Ada Jane (1882–1949).

  

William Street, where Henry was born

The family moved frequently during Henry’s childhood, which may have reflected the challenges of their working-class life. Census and birth records trace their journey across Brighton:

• 1861: 11 St. John’s Place

• 1866: 34 William Street (where Henry was born)

• 1869: 20 Carlton Place

• 1871: 26 Lennox Street

• 1881: 3 Wellington Street

Henry was baptized on November 25, 1866, at St. Nicholas Anglican Church, the family’s parish. His father was listed as a carpenter labourer on the birth certificate — an indication that the family lived a modest life.

In 1884, at just 17, Henry enlisted in the 3rd Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment (Service No. 1432). His service records describe him as 5’5” tall, fair complexion, hazel eyes, with tattooed dots on his left forearm. He served on active duty until 1888, then transferred to the militia reserves, where he remained until his discharge in 1894. Although his individual record is sparse, the 3rd Battalion was primarily a training and home defense unit and did not see active service until the Second Boer War in 1899.

---

Harriet Rowland (1868–1943)

Harriet Rowland, Henry’s future wife, was born on March 4, 1868, also in Brighton, to Thomas and Mary Ann (Matthews) Rowland. She was the fourth of seven children. Like Henry, she was baptized at St. Nicholas on April 5, 1868. At the time, the Rowland family lived at 12 Regent Row, roughly three miles from the Brookers. It is possible that Henry and Harriet first met through church or neighborhood events.

Harriet’s father worked as a brewer’s labourer — hard, physical work involving boiling, mashing, and hauling hops and malt, likely for the nearby Old Smithers Brewery. Her mother signed her birth certificate with an X, indicating she could not read or write. The Rowlands, unlike the Brookers, appear to have been more settled, remaining at Regent Row for many years.

Regent Row

---

Marriage and Family Life

Henry and Harriet were married on June 19, 1887 — just in time, as their first child, James Henry Brooker (known as Harry), was born four days later. Henry, still serving with the military, had been granted leave for the wedding. His marriage certificate listed his occupation simply as “labourer.”

By 1891, the young family had moved to Peckham in the Camberwell district of London, living at 113 Ormside Street, where Henry worked as a gas stoker. Coincidentally, this address would later be home to the Bulbrook family, whose children would eventually marry into the Brookers. After a brief return to Brighton — where their daughter Florence Harriet Brooker was born on April 12, 1899 — Henry and Harriet moved back to London.

By 1901, they were living at 208 East Street, sharing the household with Harriet’s widowed mother. In 1911, they were back on Ormside Street, this time at number 110. Henry had returned to work at the gasworks, and Harriet was employed as a general ironer at the Atlas Laundry.

Their son James married in 1906 and gave Henry and Harriet five grandchildren.

---

War Years and Tragedy

The First World War was a difficult time for the Brooker family. Their son enlisted in 1915 and died in late 1918, after spending nearly a year in a Bulgarian hospital. It is unlikely that Henry or Harriet were ever able to see him again. In 1917, tragedy struck again when their grandson, James Henry Thomas Vincent Brooker, drowned off Greenwich Pier. (See my earlier blog on their son for more detail.) 

Despite the heartbreak, life went on. In 1919, their daughter Florence married Robert Bulbrook, a neighbor from Ormside Street. Florence was four months pregnant at the time, and the young couple lived with Henry and Harriet for a while.

---

Later Years

In 1921, the family was living at 95 Ormside Street, with Florence, Robert, and their baby in the household. The 1939 Register still places Henry and Harriet at that address, with Henry listed as a retired labourer.

Sometime later, they moved to 355 Ilderton Road. Harriet passed away on October 10, 1943, at St. Alfege’s Hospital, aged 75, from Parkinson’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis, no doubt exacerbated by her years in a laundry factory. 

Henry died just a few months later, on February 27, 1944, also at St. Alfege’s Hospital, aged 77. At the time, he had been living with his daughter Florence, who was in the process of divorcing her husband. His cause of death was recorded as myocardial degeneration and chronic bronchitis.

The burial place for Henry and Harriet remains unknown.