Dorothy Brooke

Dorothy Evelyn Brooke (; 1 June 1883 – 10 June 1955) was the founder of The Old War Horse Memorial Hospital in 1934 in Cairo – renamed The Brooke Hospital for Animals in 1961. Developing from a single operation in Cairo into one of the world's largest equines welfare organisations, at work in many countries, with headquarters in London, it is known today as Brooke. Early life Dorothy Brooke was born Dorothy Evelyn Gibson-Craig on 1 June 1883 in the Cathedral Close at Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. She was the daughter of Henry Vivian and Emily Dulcibella (Wilmot) Gibson-Craig. Her grandfather was the Rt. Hon. Sir William Gibson-Craig of Riccarton. Her childhood was spent in Scotland, Wiltshire and Hampshire. By family and friends, she was always called Dodo. She was first married in 1905 to Lt.-Col. James Gerald Lamb Searight, The Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment). They were divorced in 1926. In 1926 Brooke married again, to Major-General Geoffrey Francis Heremon Brooke, C.B., D.S.O., M.C. (1884–1966), 16th/5th Lancers. Geoffrey Brooke was a recognised horse expert and author. Among his many titles are Horse-Sense and Horsemanship of Today (1924); Horse Lovers (1927); Horsemanship: The Way of a Man with a Horse (1929); and Good Company (1954). He trained and rode his own steeplechasers, he was a polo-player and show-jumper. He competed as a member of the British equestrian team in the 1924 Summer Olympics, although he had broken his collarbone a few days earlier.