Sir Henry Brooke CMG (19 July 1936 – 30 January 2018) was a British judge. He became a Lord Justice of Appeal in 1996, and became vice-president of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales in 2003. He retired from judicial office on 30 September 2006.
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Early life
Brooke was the son of Henry Brooke, Baron Brooke of Cumnor, a former Home Secretary, and Barbara Brooke, Baroness Brooke of Ystradfellte. His parents were one of the few married couples where both partners held noble titles in their own right. His elder brother was Peter Brooke, Baron Brooke of Sutton Mandeville and he also had two younger sisters; Honor Miller and Margaret Pulfer.
Brooke was educated at Marlborough College (1949–54) and undertook national service in the Royal Engineers (1955–57). He then studied Mods and Greats (classical language and literature, and ancient history and philosophy) at Balliol College, Oxford (1957–61).
Legal career
He was called to the Bar by the Inner Temple in 1963, and was Junior Counsel to the Crown (Common Law) from 1978 to 1981. He became a Queen's Counsel in 1981, and was a Recorder from 1983 to 1988. He was Counsel to the Sizewell B Nuclear Power Station Inquiry in 1983–85, and one of the DTI Inspectors into the 1985 takeover of Harrods by the Al Fayed brothers (1987-88).