In his personal life he was known as Bertram Chester, but as a sporting man, a keeper of dogs, judge of cats, animal fancier, experimental breeder and other things he was known as H.C. Brooke.

Mr. and Mrs. H.C. Brooke were both collectors and connoisseurs of curious pets ranging from rare mice and rats to domestic and small wild cats, domestic and wild dogs and wolves. They were particularly interested in bringing foreign breeds into Britain and their foreign breeds of dogs included the Dogue du Bordeaux, Tibetan Mastiff, Mexican Hairless, Esquimaux (Husky), French Toy Bulldog, Australian Dingo, a Russian grey wolf and a Siberian white wolf (from Sir Walter Rothschild). They had bred the wolves and Mr. Brooke had walked his white wolf on a leash along Regent Street, London. Their cat breeds included Manx, Abyssinians, a “self red cat” (actually a self chocolate or cinnamon) and also a South American Geoffroy’s Cat. H. C. Brooke was involved in the cat fancy and in 1926 he began, and edited, the magazine “Cat Gossip.”

The Windsor Magazine (Ward, Lock, and Co. (Limited), London) Vol 14, Issue 4, September 1901, p429 – 434, carried an interview with Mr. Brooke by E. Leuty Collins on "A Connoisseur in Curious Pets." Mr. Brooke, of Welling, [Kent] had a unique collection of curious foreign pets.

“Occasionally one finds people possessing a distinct magnetism that enables them to subdue animals which are for the most part pronounced untamable. Mr. and Mrs. H. C. Brooke, of Welling, have attained considerable celebrity in this particular, their collection of curious foreign pets being, in its way, unique. Mr. Brooke has all an Englishman’s love of sport, combined with the Continental love of arms. For this his early training is responsible.” (A Connoisseur in Curious Pets, The Windsor Magazine, September 1901)

“I went from King’s College School to a school at Sutton-Valence . . here I first imbibed the joys of hunting and ferreting; and I may say that even now, after all my varied experiences of pastimes at home and abroad, ferreting is still one of my favourite amusements.” (A Connoisseur in Curious Pets, The Windsor Magazine, September 1901). While at Sutton-Valence School he wrote to Hardwicke’s Science Gossip (in 1881) and sometimes advertised for specimens, including a Natterjack Toad. One letter described some unusual frogs he had caught in Wales and on Tooting Common. He used the home address 45 Union Grove, Wandsworth Road, S.W. (Based on the descriptions of size and colour, they might have been escaped exotics.)

“I next went to college in Germany, where I very soon joined one of the ‘corps’ which exist at most of the higher German educational institutions for convivial and duelling purposes. Since then I have been, and still am, a great believer in the duel. The majority of these college duels are of a comparatively light, character, such as the ‘Schlager,’ which is extremely prevalent among students; but even this may sometimes result in serious injuries. My own nose has been cut off and my skull splintered; the loss of several teeth from a cut is common, but death is very rare. I have, however, seen death on the spot in the case of a sabre duel.” His nose was repaired, but he was left with a serious scar. (A Connoisseur in Curious Pets, The Windsor Magazine, September 1901)

Mr. Brooke was a fan of hunting and baiting sports and a fan of fighting dogs. He considered the fighting arts to be a noble pursuit in humans and dogs alike. The ordinary English breeds no longer interested him because they were so plentiful, because ear-cropping had been banned, and because breeds such as Bulldogs were no longer the fighting dogs they had once been. During this time the Bulldog had changed from an athletic baiting breed into a short-legged, excessively short-faced and increasingly unhealthy breed. He had pitted some of his dogs against bears and bulls.

“But to pass to foreign dogs. I introduced that ancient and historic breed the Dogue de Bordeaux into this country with the help of Mr. G. R. Krehl. But as the breed has been killed by the anti-cropping regulations of the Kennel Club, I have given up benching these valuable specimens. I admire them immensely, as I consider, next to the Tibet mastiff, the dogue is the grandest breed of all. I tested them at baiting a bear, and I know what they can do. I have also tried the dogue at a bull with excellent results.” (A Connoisseur in Curious Pets, The Windsor Magazine, September 1901)

Brooke was secretary of the South London Bull-dog Club from its foundation in 1891 until 1895, and was the first to provide a class, in 1893, for the French Toy Bulldog, at the time much satirised by fanciers, but which became a fashionable pet. In 1897 he was accepted the post of secretary again, but he considered that the old-fashioned glory of the English bulldog has departed and the specimens being exhibited were becoming the soft minded gentleman’s lapdog rather than the “embodiment of all that once was courageous and powerful in the old English breed.“ (A Connoisseur in Curious Pets, The Windsor Magazine, September 1901)

Right from his schoolboy days Brooke had always kept pets. When he went to Berlin to study at the Veterinary College he had a large artificial run, near the town, which he used for training dachshunds to hunt foxes and badgers (these dogs go underground in pursuit). He also had foxes, though he didn’t mention if these were truly pets, or were used for training the dachshunds, and had jackals, polecats, martens, a dog-wolf hybrid, a toy Pomeranian, long-haired dachshunds, a bloodhound, and a fighting Boarhound (forerunner of the Great Dane) the last named having fought over sixty battles and was never beaten. He had a number of snakes, too, both harmless and poisonous, and many batrachians (frogs and toads) and saurian (reptiles). He was extremely fond of carnivorous animals but feared horses and cattle because they did not “play fair” meaning they did not have a single “business-end” like a canid, but had other weapons. He was once treed by a buffalo for two hours! (A Connoisseur in Curious Pets, The Windsor Magazine, September 1901)

“I bought an old female wolf from a German menagerie; she had not been out of her cage for seven years. I intended she should come out, and a good many of the season ticket-holders were assembled round the cage to witness her exit, evidently expecting a sensation. However, they were disappointed, for ‘Paula’ took to me at once, and in a fortnight I took her walking in the streets with me. The poor thing was very gentle and affectionate; she died from an abscess in the jaw, I never strike or threaten such animals when training them. I like the wolf very much; I admire his exterior and like his character. All dogs feared my old wolf; yet now and again she would be friendly.” (A Connoisseur in Curious Pets, The Windsor Magazine, September 1901)

But even Mr. Brooke sometimes had to admit failure when it came to wildcats. These he found to be untameable. He and his wife were both cat lovers and their silver tabby Manx, Champion Bonhaki, had won five championships and five firsts, and numerous specials. At the time of the 1901 interview they had another feline rarity in the form of their prize Abyssinian ‘Sedgemere Peaty’ whose fur “was just like that of a hare. The Abyssinian cat greatly resembles the wild cat of Egypt (Felis chaus) in type.“ (A Connoisseur in Curious Pets, The Windsor Magazine, September 1901)

In 1900 Mr. Brooke's Abyssinian queen Chelsworth Peaty [formerly Mr. Woodiwiss’s “Sedgemere Peaty”] reared a young stoat-ferret hybrid despite the normal dislike between cats and mustelids. The hybrid ferret remained friendly with its feline foster-mother even when full-grown, and the pair were admired at the Royal Botanic Gardens Show by Princess Alexandra.

At the time of the Windsor Magazine article, Mr Brooke also had a tame badger, variegated field-rats from Egypt, and a pair of the almost extinct old English black rats; the species having become very rare since the Brown Rat arrived in England.

“Private Menageries in England and America. Mr. H.C. Brooke, of Welling, Kent, is one of the few Englishmen who have a particular fancy for savage and so-called untameable pets. In his extensive travels he has spared no pains, at considerable cost and danger to himself, to cultivate the rarest possible breeds, and his great ideal is to maintain strictly the peculiar points attributable to the animal. A visit to Mr. Brooke’s house at Welling is, indeed, interesting to every lover of animals. Russian wolves and white Siberian wolves afford interesting material for study, the wolf and the dog being in many ways so much alike. There is only one animal which Mr. Brooke confesses himself unable to tame, that is his ‘Geoffrey’s Wild Cat.’ This creature came from South America. It will just tolerate its owner at meal times, but will permit no-one else to approach it. Mr. Brooke possesses the great gift of attracting to himself all kinds of animals, but making them companions in his daily life, and treating them with unvarying kindness and untiring patience.” (Nottingham Evening Post, 20th August 1903)

CAT GOSSIP AND SHORT AUTOBIOGRAPHIES

“I have long wondered why no special paper was devoted to the cat, the cat-lover, and fancy breeder, when the dog and his cult had papers galore dedicated to his evolution and welfare. Now I have just had sent me the first ‘me-ow’ so to speak, of a new monthly sheet, Cat Gossip, of which Mr. H. C. Brooke, the experimental breeder of Taunton, whose work on rare rodents was recently described in this paper, is editor.” (Westminster Gazette, 20th December 1926)

Mr Brooke’s main reputation seemed to be as a “research breeder”. For example, the exceptions to the supposed dislike of cats to water quoted in the cat paper started by Mr. H.C. Brooke, the Taunton research breeder (Westminster Gazette, 24th January 1927)

In 1927 and 1929, he published short autobiographies in Cat Gossip.
THE SHORT-HAIR JUDGE (AND EDITOR OF “CAT GOSSIP”), With Abyssinian Cat. (Cat Gossip, 7 December, 1927)
Mr. H. C. Brooke. Born 1867. Educated at various Continental Universities. Member of S.H.C.S., Croydon C.C., Manx C.C. Life Hon. Member, London Bulldog Society, or which he was for 8 years Hon. Sec. Formerly Sec. Dogue de Bordeaux Club. Formerly reporter and/or contributor to: “Field,” “Dog World,” “ Stock- keeper,” “Our Cats,” “Illustrated Kennel News,” “ International Kennel Review,” “Welsh Fancy Gazette,” “Der Hund,” (Vienna) “Weidwerk und Hunde-Sport,” etc., etc. Wrote Foreign Cats Section in “The Book of Cats”; Rat Section in “Fancy Mice and Rats.” Ex-M.S.H. Former member of a Continental Duelling Club: has fought with pistol, sabre, and rapier; wounded twelve times; a firm believer in the duel, the abandonment of which he believes to be one of the first steps to a decadent democracy. Favourite animals, wolves and wild cats. Discovered, in 1920, a white variety of the “Old English” Black Rat; in 1923, a blue variety, the only blue rat known. Bred the only known specimen of white fancy rat with black eves. Favourite experience in life, sabre duel with a Russian, both being severely wounded and placed hors de combat in 2 and a half minutes. Funniest experience, a ride up Regent Street in a “growler” (in more ways than one!) with a young bear. First exhibit: Dogs, 1887; cats, 1895. Has judged cats at many shows, including Brighton and C.P. thirty years ago; dogs at many shows at home and at Vienna, Leipzig, etc. Ran Bulldog Show at Westminster Aquarium for four years, at C.Palace three years. Has bred white wolves, wolf-dingo hybrids, etc. (breeder of the specimen presented to Natural History Museum by Hon. Walter Rothschild). Winners owned too numerous to mention. Favourite sports (when younger), hunting and shooting.

NEAR FIFTY YEARS AGO. (Cat Gossip November 13 1929)

Mr. H. C. Brooke, Judge of Shorthair at Croydon today, in full parade uniform as Fuchs-Major of a German Duelling Corps.

Lieber als des Hofrath’s Lehren
War mir stets der Schlaeger Klang,
Wer wird eitle Worte hoeren
Den des Burschen Geist durchdrang?

Naturalist — Duellist — Fancier — Sportsman — Journalist—International Judge — such have been the principal life’s activities of the subject of these notes. Descendant of a line of lawyers, he must be either a “throw-back” or an absolute mutation from type. From the earliest childhood his one interest was in animals. Educated first at King's College, in the Strand, he already, when other boys keep white mice» and guinea pigs, had many kinds of foreign reptiles, weasels, polecats, and even a half-bred Wild Cat, by Lord Lilford’s old Spanish cat, which lived so many years at the Zoo, out of the tortoise-and-white queen to which the old cat always remained faithful, even after her death.

Sent then to a school in the country, his first terms were bitter as death, because he absolutely refused — with a strength of mind uncommon in a young boy — to play any games (except paper-chases, of which he was very fond), even though bullied and dragged by main force to the football field and tied to the roller when games were in progress. Happily a new headmaster, himself a sportsman, could sympathise with a lad whose mentality rose beyond the “muddied oaf” (Kipling) act, and he was allowed to spend all his free time in natural history pursuits or in following the Harriers, and even kept a few hounds himself, besides various strange pets. But the manner in which, when a weak and purblind youth, he had been bullied, gave his character a bias which has lasted ever since, and not until sent to finish his education abroad did he find amongst the fighting students of Germany real companionship and brotherhood.

For centuries these students have formed a network of corporations absolutely “sui generis,” and on more than one occasion left their mark on history. Not overgrown schoolboys, compelled to “clock-in,” attend chapels, and so forth, they enjoy absolute freedom, and are subjected only to their own strict rules, partly somewhat Freemasonlike. To these fighting clubs have belonged many of Germany’s leading men — to mention only the great Bismarck in last century and Dr. Stresemann in this.

“Ragging” or personal indignities are unknown, and if attempted would lead to deadly encounters, and rightly so. The insular ignorance of the customs of neighbouring countries so prevalent here has led to most extraordinary misapprehensions about them and their duels, as when recently a writer in the “Daily Mail” gravely stated that the loser of a duel has to stand still whilst the victor slashes his face — an absolutely absurd fabrication. Others again place these duels on a par with those fought “in another place,” which are often ended by the first blood drawn. Whereas even the “arranged” meetings between members of rival bodies last for fifteen or twenty-five minutes, unless stopped by the doctors, and a man may receive half a dozen wounds — a splintered skull, for instance, does not necessarily mean “stop” (as Mr. Brooke’s skull can testify), though the severing of the temporal artery does. It is not permitted to “duck” the head to avoid a blow —if it cannot be warded off with the sword it must be allowed to land without being avoided; to “duck” would mean a warning, and three warnings would mean being suspended, or perhaps entirely removed from the club's membership. In sabre duels the combatants, stripped to the waist, protected only by a silken throat bandage and iron spectacles, fight with curved 32-inch blades, sharpened like razors, for 25 minutes, or until one is incapacitated or received an injury considered by the doctors dangerous to life: in one of Mr. Brooke's duels with a notorious Russian the duel only lasted minutes, he being the loser, receiving two terrific gashes in the sword-arm, which severed the muscles and caused the sabre to fall from his hand, whilst the Russian winner lost half one cheek and received a severe slash over the breast.

In various encounters Mr. Brooke received ten other wounds, including a pistol bullet through the thigh, and underwent on one occasion honourable “Festungshaft" — or fortress imprisonment. In the society of these “commilitonen,” of professors and Army officers, he spent the seven best years of his life, speaking during five years not one English word, amongst those who, in a world gone mad with decadent democracy, and sodden with commercialism, may be called the last dying survivals of the days of chivalry.

His father's severe losses in mines necessitated his recall to this country, where he took up dog breeding. At a time when only one Bulldog Club existed, he helped to found what, under his guidance, became one of the most powerful specialist clubs, and ran as hon. secretary a yearly show at the old Westminster Aquarium, and, on its closing down, at the Crystal Palace. One of the early importers and judges of Griffons and French Bulls, he judged these and Bulldogs at various places at home and abroad. Then took up “Foreign Dogs,” and in the 'nineties owned the most successful team of Foreign Dogs ever benched.

With Mr. Sam Woodiwiss he imported from France the sensation of 1895, the Dogues de Bordeaux, those almost legendary gladiators of the Midi, who for centuries used to be matched against each other, and against bears, and bulls, and fighting asses, at the fairs. Just as the breed was going well came in the anti-cropping regulations, and, disheartened, he sold the whole team to America.

In 1895 he first showed cats at the Palace, winning second and third in Manx to Mr. Woodiwiss’s Ch. Manx King, with Kater and Katzenjammer, the later famous champion, a son of The Bulldog Cat, whose portrait appeared in so many papers when shown lying in the arms of a gigantic Bulldog at the 1893 Aquarium Bulldog Show. Ch. Bonhaki, the celebrated Silver Tabby Manx, which received Royal recognition, and Ch. King Clinkie (later purchased by Lady Marcus Beresford) at his debut the victim of one of the most asinine “bloomers” ever perpetrated by a would-be Manx judge, were other well-known Manx — the Indian Red S.H., the Wild Cats of various kinds, which also interested Royalty on several occasions, and the Abyssinians, were all well known to cat lovers of about 1900.

The team of Wolves, including rare white ones, so often portrayed in the illustrated Press of about that period — a very favourite picture being one showing Mr. Brooke with a large grey wolf taking sugar from between his lips, two other wolves sitting on either side — were famous, and a welcome attraction to the Ladies' Kennel Association Shows. All this time Mr. Brooke was on the staff of one or two "doggy” papers, and a regular contributor to the sporting and canine Press of England, Austria, and Germany, usually writing over the pseudonym of “Lupus.”

Then came the Importation of Dogs Act, and although he succeeded in running the blockade with a few specimens, the strain and the expense were too great, and he gave up the most famous kennel of “Foreigners” ever known, and retired to the country to spend all his time hunting and shooting, holding for two years the Mastership of one pack. With the outbreak of war most of his securities “went to pot”; unable to keep horses or large animals, he fell back on rats, and not only won all the chief cups, etc., for years, but introduced two new sub-species, named after him, to science, and also bred colorations new to the “Fancy,” supplying many Museums at home and abroad with specimens of rarity.

And now, for the third time, the law, as if by “malice prepense,” has “crabbed” him, and prevented his procuring anymore of his beloved wild felines! Too old to hunt, in too poor health to do much shooting, what has he left? An adept in the doctrine of metempsychosis stated her belief that in previous incarnations he was a beast of prey, and after this life would once more reincarnate as some wild animal. The doctrine is just as likely, and just as unlikely, as any other of the doctrines with which humanity persistently and vainly endeavours to account for its existence and future. It would, if true, certainly explain why from his very early childhood the howl of the wolf and the roar of the lion have delighted him with a thrill impossible to describe — as were it the call of the blood! why he has always felt such sympathy and love for the Carnivora — why the cat tribe is apt to go crazy over him at times, to such an extent that it is unsafe for him to handle the greater cats, however tame, which would be liable to rend him for pure joy, just as a cat will rend a “catnip mouse.” And if the prognostication of the adept above-mentioned should be true, such a reincarnation would have no terrors for him in the day when, as the grand two-century old student song, Gaudeamus igitur,” has it -

post jucundam juventutem
post molestam senectutem
nos habebit humus!

(After pleasant youth
After troublesome old age
The earth will have us!)

This article was misinterpreted by "The Sketch" who printed this apology on 4th December, 1929: "We much regret that last week we stated that Mr. H.C. Brooke, the well-known judge of short-haired cats, wore his “duelling kit” when judging cats and appeared in parade uniform as a Fuchs-Major at Croydon. This is incorrect, as Mr. H.C. Brooke has never appeared in uniform at a cat show." On 27th November 1929, The Sketch published the photos below.

A COURT CASE AND A QUESTION OF NATIONALITY
The following is taken from the Cornish Guardian, 9th July 1915 and helps to explain the change in Mr. Brooke’s circumstances when war with Germany broke out.

COAST WATCHER ASSAULTED. SCENE ON CRINNIS CLIFFS. ACCUSED FINED £21. ARRESTED AND ADMITTED TO BAIL ON FURTHER CHARGE.
A case which has aroused a great deal of interest in the St. Austell district came on for hearing at the St. Austell Police Court on Saturday last, when Bertram Chester, alias Hugh Chester Brooke, described as a gentleman of independent means, residing at Tregonissey, St. Austell, was charges with, in June 19th, at Crinnis, in the parish of St. Austell, unlawfully obstructed Edmund Jenkin, a coast watcher, then and there carrying out the orders of the competent Naval Authorities under the Defence of the Realm Regulations. The accused walked from the station on arrival from Bodmin in the company of the police, and in Court sat by the side of his solicitor, Mr. G.B. Dobell. He is a man of strong physique, nearly fifty years of age, and wears thick good-rimmed spectacles.

The magistrates were Messrs. J.W. Higman (in the chair), J. Lovering, J.T. Hawke, W.J. Nicholls, Howard Dunn and J. Pascoe. Acting Chief Constable Banfield was in charge of the prosecution; others present including Inspector Hugo and Sergt. Matthews; Capt. Cauldfield, commanding the coast watchers; and Mr. Reginald Dick, secretary of the Cornwall Boy Scouts.

Opening the case, Mr. Banfield said Jenkin was coast watching at Crinnis at about 10 o’clock in the morning of June 19th, when he saw the accused and challenged him as to whether he was a foreigner or not. Without satisfying Jenkin, the defendant struck him with a stick, struggled for it until it broke, and then seized Jenkin’s stick, with which he struck Jenkin, and then made off over the fields. There was no question about Jenkin’s authority, for he was wearing a distinguishing badge on his arm at the time. Defendant was an educated man, and under any circumstances he need not and should not have assaulted Jenkin. The section under which defendant was charged he was liable to a term of not exceeding six months’ imprisonment, or a fine of £100.

“If your Worships are satisfied, after hearing the evidence, that defendant is guilty of the charge,” added Mr. Banfield, “I hope you will mete out to him a severe penalty, not only as a punishment to him, but as a warning to others that in these days no person must interfere with a coast watcher or anyone else who is acting under the King.”

Edmund James Jenkin, living at 28, Edgcumbe Terrace, St. Blazey gate, said he was a coast watcher under Capt. Cauldfield. And was on duty on the cliff at Crinnis at the time mentioned, having commenced duty at 6 o’clock. He was wearing the armlet he now wore bearing the letters “C.W.” in white letters on a dark ground, and “R.N.” underneath.
“I met this man,” he said, “about 10.15 in the morning, and a Boy Scout named Mills was with me. I was walking westward towards Charlestown, and he was carrying his walking stick. I thought he was a suspicious-looking person. I said ‘Good morning,’ and he replied ‘good morning,’ or something to that effect and walked on. I communicated my suspicions to the Boy Scout, and we decided to watch him. He was on the top of the cliff, and went into the next field. As we turned back to go towards him he turned to come to meet us. When we met I challenged him, and said ‘Excuse me, are you a British subject?’ He replied. ‘What the hell the difference does that make to you, what I am?’ I said ‘I am here for the purpose of finding out. I am a coast watcher, and am here for that purpose – to arrest you or any other suspicious person who comes along the cliff.’ He said, ‘You take me for a suspicious looking person?’ I said ‘I take you to be a German spy.’ “

“When I said that he at once raised his stick, and struck me a deliberate blow on the right side of the face, holding the crook of the stick in his hand. When he struck me I made a grab at him, gripping the stick at the same time. We struggled, and the stick broke in two pieces. I had a stick of my own in my hand, and in the tussle my stick fell on the ground. Defendant picked up my stick. I made another rush at him, and he struck me across the wrist with my stick. He called me a ‘bloody scoundrel,’ and commended the Boy Scout for not interfering, saying, ‘You did right for not interfering.’ I demanded his name and address, but he at once ran away, taking my stick with him. He ran across the pathway in the field so far as the stile, when he got over the hedge. I then lost sight of him. I gave certain instructions to the Scout, and then went across the next field and met the Charlestown coast watcher, Fredk. Dingle, and gave him information. Afterwards I saw accused’s head disappearing over the railway trap, but did not see him again. I returned and reported the matter. On the following Tuesday I came to St. Austell and identified accused as the man.”

Mr. Banfield produced a stick with a label attached, which Jenkin identified as his.
Cross-examined: He had been a coast watcher since February 8th, was formerly a stevedore employed on Par Quay, and had been living at St. Blazey Gat about 15 years. He adhered to his story.
Mr. Dobell: Why did you consider him a suspicious-looking person?
Witness: The appearance of the man.
Did he act suspiciously? – No.
When you accused him of being a suspicious-looking person did he then get very angry? – He did.
Until you called him a suspicious-looking person and a German spy he did not threaten you in any way? No.
Witness added that most likely he struck accused with his stick in the tussle. The Scout Mills took no part in the affair.
Mr. Dobell: Did you attempt to arrest accused? – I did.
And the Scout did not assist you to do so? – No.
Did you ask him? – I did. I said to him, “Come on here and help,” but he didn’t come.
I suggest that there was only a slight altercation, and you did not think it necessary to call upon the Scout to help you at all? – I did call upon him.

When accused ran away they did make a serious attempt to catch him, but though he was nearly 50 he had the start of them. He did not know accused had very poor sight, and denied that accused said anything about thinking witness was a G.W.R. man.
Re-examined: If accused had question his authority he would have produced it, for he carried it in his pocket.

Scout Mills, of the Chippenham Troop, corroborated the last witness’s story.
Cross-examined: he did not interfere not because he did not think it was necessary, but because he had nothing to defend himself with. If he had had a stick he would have tried to stop accused who was waving his stick ab out.

P.S. Matthews said on the Tuesday following the assault he went to defendant’s house at Tregonissey, leaving Jenkin and Mills in the road outside. He saw accused at his front door, and told him that from inquiries there was some suspicion that he was the person who had committed the assault. He asked accused if he could account for his whereabouts on that day and, cautioning him, said he need not say anything unless he wished. He paused for a second or two, and then said, “All I have to say is the man Jenkin is a liar.”
“I asked him,” continued witness, “to put on the straw hat he was said to be wearing at the time, and walk down the garden path with me, so that Jenkin could see him.” He said “I will do nothing of the kind. I don’t want the police and a group of people in my premises.” He then backed into the passage of his house, and I followed him. There were several trophies of various kinds hanging on the wall, and on a nail near the foot of the stairs I found this stick (produced), which I recognised as one similar to the one Jenkin told me was taken from him. To it was attached a label on which where the following words: “June 19th, 1915. Trophy seized from one of the gallant (?) band of coast watchers who guard the British shores.” (The stick with the label was handed up to the magistrates who examined it.) “I seized the stick which I considered very important and sufficient evidence to place Chester on his arrest. I told him I weas taking him into custody. He protested, and said, ‘If you take me into custody I shall expect you to take Jenkin into custody, because he assaulted me. I have the mark near my nose, which was bleeding when I came home on Saturday.’ I observed that there was a mark, but it did not look as if it were due to a blow. He admitted they had a tussle with the stick, and he got the best of it. He left his stick with Jenkin, saying ‘Exchange is no robbery.’ Before leaving the house for St. Austell Police Station he went back into the passage, and from a corner by the stairs he took a brass-headed black stick, which he did not use as a walking stick, but swung it about in his hand. On reaching the Police Station I found it was an iron stick. No reference was made to it at the time. At the Police Station I asked him some questions respecting his proper name, age, place of birth, and so on. He told me he was called Bertram Chester. I said ‘What about H.C. Brooks?’ He said, ‘Personally I am known as Bertram Chester, but as a sporting man and a keeper of dogs and other things I am known as H.C. Brook.’ I asked for particulars of birth, and he replied, ‘I don’t know where I was born – somewhere in London – probably at Islington. I have a mother living, but I will not give you her name and address, because I don’t want the police to bother her.’ “
Deputy Chief Constable Banfield interposed at this point, saying witness need not go too deeply into the question of accused’s birth as it did not affect the present charge.

Witness continued his evidence: “Accused said ‘I didn’t know there were such men as coast watchers engaged. I saw the badge on his arm, but thought it was a railway badge. I asked him for his authority, and he said he had it in his pocket. I thought the affair would be a lesson to Jenkin to speak civilly in future.’ Defendant was continually asking me if there was anything else beside the present charge to be brought against him. I found at his house after he was remanded the following day a letter written in German and several German photographs.”

Cross-examined by Mr. Dobell: From first to last during the time he has been in your custody he has denied committing an assault?
Witness: He called it a tussle; he has never admitted an assault.
The stick with the label could be seen by anyone entering the front room? – It could not be seen from the front door.
As to this heavy stick, what do you suggest – that it was a weapon? – I make no suggestion.
Since the accused has been in custody you have asked him a lot of questions? – No, he was continually asking me questions. In fact, on one occasion he said “I would rather confide in you than in any lawyer.” (Laughter.)
As to accused’s birth witness said accused told him he gave particulars as far as he could.

Mr. Dobell: As far as your investigations go has everything he has told you about his past proved to be correct? – He was very anxious to assist in those investigations.
If any difficulty arose about his birth it was on account of his wanting to spare outside people> = I should think so. In no particular in which I sought information has he been unwilling to give it.
Re-examined: As regards his birth. Do you know anything about that than what he has told you himself? – Outside what defendant and his wife have told me I don’t know if it is true.

Capt. Cauldfield, in command of the local coast watchers, read the report he sent to the Admiralty on the statements made to him by Jenkin and Mills. In it he strongly criticised the inaction of Mills, and recommended his removal from his post.
Mr. Dobell pointed out that there was nothing in the report about any assault, and no mention of any blows being struck at all.
Capt. Cauldfield’s explanation was that his report did not profess to give the whole of the details. It was hurriedly written.
Mr. Dobell said he was not blaming Capt. Cauldfield; he only wrote what he was told, but it was significant that there was no mention of any assault. In the face of the report he submitted to the magistrates that there was no case for him to answer.
Mr. Banfield pointed out that in addition to Capt. Cauldfield’s report, they had the evidence on oath of two witnesses as to the assault.
Capt. Cauldfield said he sent off his report at once, as he wanted to lose no time in getting into touch with the authorities.
The magistrates intimated that they wished Mr. Dobell to proceed.
Opening the defence, he remarked how trivial the case would have been viewed in normal times. The defendant would only have been summoned, and if found guilty would have been ordered to pay a small fine. The presentwere no normal times, hence the case had assumed its serious aspect; the accused had been arrested. Committed to the cells, and to Bodmin Prison, and had now been in custody nearly a fortnight. Those successive remands, he agreed, were very necessary for the purpose of enabling the police to make full inquiries. Search had been made into the whole past life of the accused from the time of his birth. He and the accused made no complaint about these inquiries being made. The reason he referred to them was in order to point out to their Worships the very heavy penalty that had to be borne in these times by those who came within reach of the law. Mr. Dobell was proceeding to refer to the assistance accused has given the police to clear up the mystery of his birth.
Mr. Banfield said he did not think Mr. Dobell should enter to fully into that phase at that juncture. He meant as toa accused’s life, because he had something to say about that after the present case was finished.
Mr. Dobell said he did not intend going deeply into it. Defendant had done all he could to assist the police throughout. The birth phase of the case had been very difficult, and as far as they had been able they had tried to meet the police. As regards the present charge the accused though Jenkin was a G.W.R. employe; he denied any assault, but admitted there was a tussle. As far as he understood accused was a quick-tempered man, and when it was suggested that he was not a British subject and a German spy he lost control of himself. It would have been a matter of no difficulty to arrest his client who was approaching 50, and was not in the best of health. If their Worships thought accused had carried the matter too far, he asked them to consider the confinement he had already endured and the indignity of being led through the streets of St. Austell in custody, which was a severe punishment for a man of education as this man was. He suffered from very bad eyesight, and had been under the treatment of Sir John Tweedy, the Harley Street eyesight specialist, who said he could only just distinguish light from darkness by one eye, and the same process of blindness was operating in the other eye. He had to remain in complete darkness for many hours of the day. Unfortunately while in custody he has been exposed to the light both day and night.
Mr. Banfield said he was going to dispute the statements as to his sight.
Mr. Dobell said he had made inquiries, and the facts could be borne out by evidence. During the time he had been at Bodmin he had suffered very much from exposure to his eyes. The specialist said this confinement brought him nearer to total blindness. Hence accused had undergone very heavy punishment, which he asked the magistrates to take into consideration.

Accused, giving evidence, said he had resided at Tregonissey two years last December. Previous to that he had lived for a year at the White House and had also stayed at Mulvra. He had visited the district for ten or eleven years, and few summers ago took a furnished cottage for the summer months at Porthpean from Mr. Watkins. With regard to the charge, he said that after he passed Jenkin and the Scout he looked around and saw them dodging behind furze bushes. He substantially admitted the facts, except that he denied that there was any assault, only a tussle with the sticks. He thought Jenkin was a G.W.R. official, for the railway passed near by. He asked the coast watcher’s authority, who tapped his pocket. And said, “I have got it here.” After the affair he walked away at his usual pace. He denied running away. Explaining the label on the stick, he said the ludicrous side of the affair appealed to him, and he exhibited as a trophy, as a little joke, to show his wife who was away on a holiday. It seemed so ludicrous to him that Jenkin and Mills should be charges with the duty of coast watchers, and the thought that if he had been a real German spy he might have dropped the over the cliff. As to the heavy stick, he said he used it to keep wolves and other wild animals, for which more than an ordinary stick was necessary. He was in th habit of using it as a walking stick. He went to Crinnis on the morning in question for the purpose of having a bathe.

Cross-examined. Mr. Banfield: Compared with the coast watcher you suggest yourself to be an infirm man. You don’t appear so.
Accused: There was a boy and a man.
According to you the boy was frightened? - I don’t say he was frightened.
You are a sportsman and go out shooting? – I do a little in the early morning.
Your sight cannot be so bad? – I can only shoot a sitting rabbit now.
You say you were going to bathe. Had you a costume? – No, but I had a towel in my pocket.
No costume, and yet this is a public beach, commented Mr. Banfield. Accused admitted to the use of the name “H.C. Brooke” and “Hugh Chester Brooke.” - Asked if he was in doubt as to Jenkin’s authority why he did not get him to produce. He was an educated man, and admitted to a knowledge of two or three languages, including French and German.
Accused: That makes it all the harder to bear when spoken to in an insulting way. I was annoyed at being called such names. I saw the badge, but I had no idea that any were engaged as coast watchers other than the military. Whom I had previously seen. I asked him for his authority, but he did not show it to me.

The magistrates retired, and were absent some minutes. On their return Mr. J.W. Higman said; “We have given this case very serious consideration, and are glad to think that so far this is the first case of the kind brought before us. We are unanimously of the opinion that an assault has been committed on Jenkin. We had serious thoughts as to whether we should send you to prison, but having regard to certain circumstances, and the fact that you have been in custody two weeks, we have decided to fine you £21, or, in default, 61 days’ imprisonment.

On the application of Mr. Banfield, the Bench allowed 15s. costs to meet the coast watcher’s and Boy Scout’s expenses. The accused paid by cheque, which was immediately cashed by the Magistrate’s Clerk.

ACCUSED’S NATIONALITY. Mr. Banfield said at the last Court he mentioned that he was not satisfied with the question of the nationality of the accused. The onus rested on accused to establish his nationality. Mr. Dobell had obtained certain information, but although Mr. Dobell had done his best they were really not much farther. But it did look as if he was born in England. Mr. Dobell had a certificate showing that he was registered in North Islington in 1867, but although that was so the Metropolitan Police had written that they had searched the registers from 1865 to 1870 and no-one was registered in the name of Brookes or Chester during that period. In addition, Mr. Dobell sent him information as regarded the person supposed to be defendant’s father, John Chester, also born in England, in Cornwall, but if that was so that was another funny feature. The certificate sent down showed the man who registered.
Mr. Dobell: It seems to me, if Mr. Banfield is going into this matter, anything further should be taken in camera [closed room], not only in the interest of defendant, but of his relatives.
The Bench decided to hear the matter in private, and the court was cleared.

FURTHER CHARGES: it was subsequently stated that Chester had been further charges with “that he, between 1st and 31st December last, did attempt to cause dissatisfaction among the civil population by writing and sending certain postcards to a daily newspaper called the ‘Daily Sketch,’ contrary to the Defence of the Realm Consolidated Regulations,” and that he had been remanded in custody until the 20th inst., bail being allowed in £20, defendant having undertaken not to leave the district in the meantime. They would also [offer] him an opportunity in the meantime of proving his nationality.

The West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser, 1st July 1915, p.6, reporting on the remand hearing, had described Brooke as a thick-set man of about 45 years of age, well-dressed in a knickerbocker suit, and wearing spectacles.

DEFENCE OF REALM ACT. PROCEEDINGS IN THE ST. AUSTELL COURT. The West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser, 22nd July 1915, pg 4
Bertram Chester, of Tregonissey, described as of independent means, who was recently heavily fined at St. Austell Police Court for obstructing a coastwatcher at Crinnis was on Tuesday charged off remand that, between December 1st and 31st last, he attempted to cause dissatisfaction among the civil population by writing and sending certain postcards to the “Daily Sketch.” When accused was remanded o this charge on July 3rd he was asked to prove his nationality in the meantime. The magistrates present on Tuesday were Col. A.S. hext (chairman), Admiral Sir Charles Graves-Sawle, Bart., Messrs. J.W. Higman, J.T. Hawke, G.T. Petherick, C.E. Davies, H. Dunn, and J. Pascoe.

Mr. Berkeley Dobell, who defended, remarked that on the previous occasion the magistrates consented to the proceedings being taken in camera, and he presumed that that was a continuation of the proceedings. The magistrates agreed, but before the Press withdrew, Mr. Dobell said he wished to draw attention to a report which had appeared which was damaging to the defendant, who wished him to make an explanation. It was said that Sergt. Matthews found on accused a letter written in German and also several German photographs, but it was not explained that those photographs were between 25 and 30 years old and were brought back from Germany when defendant returned as a student.
Acting Chief Constable Banfield pointed out that it did not come out in evidence when they were brought back from Germany.
Mr. Dobell said defendant had taken exception to it. The statement that those photographs were brought over long ago was not, he understood, challenged in any way. The defendant considered that the statement, as it appeared in the Press, was damaging to him and likely to do him great harm.
Mr. Banfield replied that it was simply a statement and, although he did not assume that Mr. Dobell would say a word that he believed was wrong, yet at the same time there would be no chance for him to test it or cross-examine.
Mr. Dobell stated that Mr. Banfield knew it was a fact. The police have seen the photographs.
Mr. Banfield said he did not see that it was necessary to pursue the point, and the charge against Chester was then taken in camera.
At the conclusion of the hearing the Bench considered the case proved, and accused was fined £5 5s. or 31 days imprisonment. The Chairman was directed by the Bench to seriously warn defendant as to his future conduct. – The amount of the fine was paid.
The question of Chester’s nationality was not raised at the proceedings on Tuesday.

BREACHES OF THE DEFENCE OF THE REALM ACT. MAN ORDERED TO LEAVE THE ST. AUSTELL DISTRICT, The West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser, 5th August 1915, p. 7
Mr. Bertram Chester, of Tregonissey, St. Austell, who was recently fined £21 for an assault on a coast watcher, and £5 5s. for attempting to cause dissatisfaction among the civil population by writing and sending postcards to a London paper, had received an order from the competent military authority to quit the St. Austell district. A stipulation of the order is that he must report himself to the authorities at his new place of residence. The order is made under the Defence of the Realm Regulations.

His previous appearances in court included being a witness for a defendant in a case regarding a stray dog without a collar. The Western Times, 7th May 1909, pg 14 reported on the case, at Barnstaple Police Court, of a sporting dog, belonging to Mr. W.L. Ashton, that was at large without a collar contrary to the Dogs Act. This act did not apply to packs of hounds or dogs being used for sporting purposes. It seems to have become lost from the pack and wandered for some days which meant there was some dispute over whether it was a “sporting dog” when found by the police. Mr. Bertram Chester, M.S.H. (Master of Staghounds) testified that Mr. Ashton’s hound had been hunting nearly all the season. The case against Ashton was dismissed.

MR. BROOKE’S FELINE CURIOSITIES

Mr. Brooke specialised in the Manx and the Abyssinian and wrote the chapter on "Foreign Cats" in Frances Simpson’s “The Book of the Cat.” He was much against the Silver Abyssinians that appeared early on, and of Mrs. Carew-Cox's "Shamrock" at Brighton in 1903, he remarked "It is a ticked cat but not the proper Abyssinian colour."

When unable to get living specimens he collected photos and accounts of unusual cats. Mr Boden Kloss, Director of the Raffles Museum in Singapore sent him a photograph of a young Malay cat. Brooke noted that it resembled the Australian cat he had once owned, except that the Malay cat's tail was kinked upwards, while the Australia cat's triple-kinked tail was carried downwards. Brooke also had a photo of the famous pair of hairless cats, Dick and Nellie, owned by Mr. Shinick. He also described a winged cat in Cat Gossip in 1927.

The premier Cat Show of Great Britain was held in Croydon last week. . . . A notable exhibit, not for competition, was an Egyptian or Kaffir cat, said to be the only one in the country. It belonged to Mr. H. C. Brooke, a Somerset naturalist. He claimed that it is a descendant of the original African wild cat, and that it is of the kind worshipped by the ancient Egyptians, not to mention also being chief progenitor of the European domestic cat. (West Sussex Gazette, 13th November 1924)

“Most of us have heard of the Siamese Twins, but not all of us are so familiar with Siamese cats, said to be the most mysterious animals living to-day Mr. H. C. Brooke, of Watchet is a great authority on ‘Albinisim in Cats,’ and is, I understand, curious for any information regarding a cat with pink or red eyes. Should any of my readers possess a cat with eyes of such hue, they would be aiding science by communicating the fact to Mr. Brooke.” (Wells Journal, 15th May 1925)

Mr. Brooke wrote to the Daily Mail that he had no reliable reference to tailless Manx cats dating from before the nineteenth century, but that he’d read of similar cats in ‘The History of Sumatra’ written in 1783 by William Marsden, F.R.S. and that it was possible that such cats gave rise to the legend of tailless cats shipwrecked from the Spanish Armada since Spaniards had Eastern possessions and might had had tailless ships’ cats from Malaya (London and China Express, 4th August 1927)

A Remarkable Cat. Mr. H.C. Brooke, of Bishop’s Hull, has just acquired a most remarkable cat. It is, in fact, an absolutely unique specimen as far as this country is concerned. It is a self-red short-haired cat, much the colour of a squirrel, without any markings. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to obtain any data as to how it was bred, but no red unmarked short-haired cat has ever been seen in this country, with the exception of some specimens owned and exhibited about 30 years ago by Mr. Brooke. These came from India, and excited much interest among both fanciers and naturalists. Their coats were as short as that of a newly-clipped horse, and the very long tails, almost whip-like in thinness. The portrait of one of these cats, with its cattery mate, an Abyssinian, forms one of the coloured plates in Cassell’s Book of the Cat, now in print. (Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser, 24th October 1928)

In his pamphlet “The Abyssinian Cat,” Mr. Brooke deplored the fact that the history of "this beautiful and interesting breed has been neglected, that too little was known of its origin and too little interest” was being shown by the cat fancy.

In a little room in Brooke-street, W.C., the smallest and most exclusive cat show in the world was held yesterday afternoon. It was the first members' show of the Abyssinian Cat Club. . . in the opinion of Mr. H. C. Brooke, a noted authority and a member of the club, it is identical with the sacred cat of ancient Egypt. (Daily Mirror, 13th March 1930)

“A cat which is claimed to be unique in type and colouring is owned by Mr H.C. Brooke, of Taunton. It has short hair which, from whiskers to tail tip, is dark red, without any lighter shade or signs of tabby stripes. It rarely sits about like the everyday cat, but paces or trots to and fro continually.” (Hull Daily Mail, 9th April 1930)

CAT RESEARCH. Coffee-Coloured & Pink-Eyed Strains. White cats with pink eyes, and Cats the colour of ground coffee are the latest ambition of the zoological department of the University of Liverpool. One cat of each of these new types in the possession of the University, and elaborate breeding experiments are being undertaken in an endeavour to establish permanent strains. . . . The [“self red” coffee-coloured cat] was shown by the late Mr. H. C. Brooke as a “self-red” at the Crystal Palace. But it is pointed out by the workers at Liverpool that its colour is entirely different from anything found on a normal “red” cat; in fact, that is a true dark brown without markings. Nothing is known of the origin of this cat, nor of how its colour can have been transmitted. (Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail - Friday 10 April 1931)

RATS AND MICE

When the Great War broke out, Brooke lost most of his securities (in Germany) and could no longer keep horses (for hunting) or large animals so he turned his attention to smaller animals that were cheaper to maintain. He began to scientifically breed fancy rats, including new colours to the Rat Fancy, and won all the chief cups and awards for several years. He also introduced two new sub-species, named after him, to science. He supplied many Museums at home and abroad with rare specimens including the hairless mouse, which developed fur in the normal way, but then shed its fur starting from the head and ending at the tail, until it was completely hairless.

[Brooke] was noted for having produced a white specimen the old English black rat, which the Zoological Society named after him as the “Rattus rattus Brookei.” Specimens of this freak were supplied to the natural history departments or museums of English, Continental, and American Universities. (Western Daily Press, 17th November 1930)

New quarantine rules prevented him from procuring any more of his beloved wild felines from overseas, though the Brookes still had an Abyssinian pet cat..

“The second annual conference of the South-Western Naturalists' Union, representing Gloucestershire. Somerset, Devon, Cornwall, Dorset, and Wiltshire, opened at Taunton Saturday morning, and concludes to-day . . . An interesting feature of the gathering was an exhibition by Mr H. C. Brooke, of Bishop's Hull, the well-known naturalist, of living specimens of rare types of rats, including white and blue varieties of the old English black rat and creamy-pink variety of the brown rat. It was explained that there is no other animal known exactly of the colour this last-named rat. Mr Brooke mentioned that he discovered the white old English black rats in Bristol in 1920, and they had been very much admired all over the world. The blue variety he discovered the year before last, and the colour, it would be observed, was exactly the same as that of a blue Persian cat. It had also created great interest, and he had sent specimens to America and France. These white and blue varieties had been named after him (Mr Brooke). Two other interesting exhibits were rare specimens of the sacred wild cat of Egypt and a young Indian civet cat, the smallest of the species and the only type that inhabits both Madagascar and Asia. Mr Brooke handled both animals, and explained that in ancient Egypt the cat was revered, mummified, and had her own goddesses. It was from this variety of cat that all our European domestic cats are descended. The father of the one now shown was an untamable fiend; it had been in captivity five years, and no one dared put a hand on him. Mr Brooke also showed a picture of two hairless cats, a variety now extinct.” (Western Daily Press, 9th June 1924)

“Dr. F. A. E. Crew, Principal of the Animal Breeding Institute at the [Edinburgh] university, experimenting with hairless mice bred by Mr. H. C. Brooke, the Taunton naturalist and experimental breeder, has discovered that the shedding of hair is due to the absence of a certain gland substance . . . The experiments are now to be continued with a view to finding out if human baldness may not be due to the same glandular deficiency. . . .Mr. Brooke, at Hele Bridge. showed the correspondent a family of these hairless mice bred from a pair discovered some time ago in London. Some of them showed nothing but bare pink skin, while the younger ones had begun to shed their hair from the head downward.” (Seeking Remedy for Baldness. Experiments With Mice. Scots University Discovery. Belfast Telegraph, 13th November 1926)

‘Lilac mice from Africa are the latest acquisition of Mr. H. C. Brooke, an experimental breeder, of Hele Bridge, Taunton. His hairless mice - as reported in the Westminster Gazette on Saturday - have formed the basis of experiments in connexion with baldness and its cure at Edinburgh University. “These lilac mice," Mr. Brooke told me to-day, "are too wild to touch at present, and have to be kept shut in a box covered with straw. As soon as they are tamer I shall start cross-breeding to find out if possible how this unusual colouring has been produced."

Before breeding mice and rats, Mr. Brooke bred wolves and wild cats, and had them running about his house like domestic pets. "These big things are too expensive for me now," he said. ”Last year I had an Indian wild cat, and hoped to cross it with the domestic variety, for it was fairly tame. But it died, and I've never tried to get another since. When we lose a cat like that my wife and I are miserable for days. All we have now is an Abyssinian, which follows me about affectionately." (Scientist’s Cottage Full of Mice - Westminster Gazette, 15th November 1926)

ON BRITISH WILDLIFE

BRITISH WILD ANIMALS. SOME INTERESTING ENCOUNTERS. Citizen (Gloucester), 12th September 1925, pg.7: Writing of encounters with British wild animals, Mr. H. C. Brooke writes in “Country Life”:- “Many a time I have had hunting weasels run within a foot of me. By stooping down among some cattle, I have had a badger early in the morning, come within six feet. I was sitting once, leaning against a tree, with my foot resting against a stump, waiting for a shot at young rabbits on a summer evening, when a brown owl came and settled on the upturned toe of my boot. He stared, and I stared, till I had to blink, when he flew into a branch over my head. Sitting with my feet in a dry ditch or goyle, waiting for rabbits, one summer’s eve. I heard a chattering cry approaching. and next moment a pack of seven or eight stoats, probably one family, but all apparently full grown, swept in full cry like a pack of hounds down the goyle, running clean over my feet, when they burst and scattered in all directions.

"One morning, when out after rabbit, I looked through a gap into the next field, where I expected to get a shot. To my surprise — for the wind was right, and I felt sure I had made no noise - all along the hedge I could see the rabbits sitting up, drumming, and looking apprehensive. Then I saw a stoat come running along the hedge, passing within a few feet of the drumming rabbits, of which it took no notice. I watched it progress for about a hundred yards like this, and it was closely followed by two rabbits, which, with a still loping gait, followed about six feet behind it. When they came to a bend in the hedge I had to move my head, when the stoat saw me and jumped into the hedge, and the rabbits ran back in the direction they had come from. One morning in March, a couple of years ago, I was walking (about 10 a.m.) with gun and dog along the banks of the Torre, and heard a continuous whistling. Looking about, I spied, upon a perfectly open space of bank a few yards ahead, a cub otter, perhaps seven or eight pounds in weight, lying curled up, whistling at the top of his voice. I moved very quietly towards him, and was just stooping to grab him when the spaniel, which had been investigating a bush a little wav behind, came tearing along the bank. The cub heard him, uncoiled, and with one bound, entered the water!”

JUDGING RIGHT UP TO THE END

In 1929, Brooke described himself as being in poor health. He died at the age of 64 having been suddenly taken ill at Croydon Cat Show, where he was due to judge foreign cats, in 1930. The suddenness of his illness and death suggest a heart attack.

A NOTABLE WESTCOUNTRYMAN. Among those who are judging at the Croydon Cat Club's Big Championship Show tomorrow is Mr. H. C. Brooke, of Taunton, who is one of the leading authorities in the cat world. Mr. Brooke possesses a very unusual distinction, as it is believed that he the only living Englishman who has fought regular Continental duels with both sword and pistol, and he still bears the marks of some of the fierce encounters of his student days. Although he is a well-known judge of show cats, especially of the short-haired breeds, he is really chiefly interested in rare or curious animals, and has at one time or another had some most unusual pets, including a number of wolves and many of the lesser-known varieties of small wild cats, most of which have become perfectly tame and domesticated under his care. Now, owing to rigorous quarantine regulations, he can longer obtain specimens from abroad, and has to be content with a few ordinary cats. . . . Mr. Brooke's reputation as an authority on cats is as high on the Continent as it is in England, and he has judged important shows in Paris, Germany, and Austria, although he always returns from Continental shows in a very envious frame of mind, because he sees there the rare breeds which are now barred to him. (Western Morning News, 12th November 1930)

DEATH OF WELL-KNOWN CAT EXPERT IN LONDON. Mr. H. C. Brooke, of Taunton, whose reputation us a judge of cats was as high on the Continent as it was in this country, died yesterday in a London nursing home. He had journeyed to London to judge the short hair classes at Croydon Cat Show, but was taken ill on arrival. Mr. Brooke has been described as naturalist, duellist, fancier, sportsman, journalist, and international judge. Besides being an expert on cats, he had domesticated many kinds of wild animals. Originally he bred and judged bulldogs, and later “foreign” dogs, with much success. It was in 1895 that he first showed cats at the Palace, winning second and third in the Manx class. For some time Mr. Brooke was on the staff of one or two “doggy " papers, and a regular contributor to the sporting and canine Press of England, Austria, and Germany. The current issue of “Cat Gossip” says that Mr. Brooke was the descendant of a long line of lawyers. From his earliest childhood his one interest was in animals. Educated first at King's College in the Strand, “he already, when other boys kept white mice and guinea pigs, had many kinds of foreign reptiles, weasels, polecats, and even a half-bred Wild Cat.” (Western Morning News, Saturday 15th November, 1930)

MAN WHO BRED WHITE "BLACK" RATS AND A RED CAT. Eminent Somerset Naturalist Dies in London. Hugh Chester Brooke, of Bishop’s Hull, Taunton, an eminent naturalist and cat judge of international repute, died in a London nursing home at the age of 64. Mr Brooke made a lifelong study of natural history, and his breeding experiments with rats and mice attracted wide interest. He was noted for having produced a white specimen the old English black rat, which the Zoological Society named after him as the “Rattus rattus Brookei.” Specimens of this freak were supplied to the natural history departments or museums of English, Continental, and American Universities. Brooke was educated in Germany, and while a university student fought a number of duels, including one with a Russian cavalry officer, in which he was badly scarred. Before coming to live in Somerset Mr Brooke owned one the finest collections of foreign dogs in the country, among which was a famous Eskimo dog that had taken part in one of Peary's Farthest North expeditions. In later years Mr Brooke's chief interest was cats. He had owned specimens of the sacred cat of Egypt, and an Abyssinian cat of another rare type. Early this year Mr Brooke exhibited in London an all-red cat, the only one of its kind in this country. (Western Daily Press, 17th November 1930)

CREMATED REMAINS FOR GERMANY. The body of Mr. H.C. Brooke, of Bishop's Hull, the eminent Somerset naturalist and cat judge, who died in a London nursing home last weekend, was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium, together with the colours of his old students' corps from Germany, which were laid on the coffin at his expressed wish. At his request the ashes are being sent to the Franconia Students' Corps of Berlin University, as a member of which in his young days Mr. Brooke fought a number of duels with sabres. The members of the Corps hove intimated that they will go into mourning for six week' as a mark of respect for their former comrade. (Langport & Somerton Herald, 22nd November 1930)

“Mr. John Hugh Bertram Chester (otherwise Hugh Chester) Brooke, of Hele Cottage, Bradford, Taunton, a well-known judge of cats, and one of the originators of the English Bulldog Club, who left £5,794 (net personalty £5,534), stated, “I direct that she (his wife) shall not wear any mourning garb on account of my decease. And I direct that (if circumstances permit) I be buried in my red coat and that my hunting-horn and German sabre blade be buried with me, in order that they may not fall into unworthy hands." (Liverpool Daily Post, 27th December 1930)