Alan Brooke, 3rd Viscount Brookeborough
Alan Henry Brooke, 3rd Viscount Brookeborough (born 30 June 1952), is a Northern Irish peer and landowner. He is one of the 92 hereditary peers who remain, for life, in the House of Lords, and is the current Lord Lieutenant of Fermanagh, sitting as a crossbencher.
Early life and career
Lord Brookeborough was educated at Harrow School, Millfield, and the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester.
He joined the British Army in 1971, being commissioned into the 17th/21st Lancers. In 1977 he transferred to the Ulster Defence Regiment (UDR), which was to become the Royal Irish Regiment in 1992. He was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in 1993, and became Honorary Colonel of the 4th/5th Battalion, Royal Irish Rangers, in 1997.
Personal life
Lord Brookeborough (known to his family and friends as Alan Brooke or Alan Brookeborough) married Janet Elizabeth Cooke (daughter of J.P. Cooke, of Doagh), now Viscountess Brookeborough, in 1980. They farm the 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) Colebrooke Estate, just outside Brookeborough in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.[1] The centre of the estate is Colebrooke Park, an early 19th-century neo-Classical country house that is the ancestral seat of the Brooke family.
Peerage
Brooke succeeded his father as The 3rd Viscount Brookeborough in 1987. Although he lost his automatic right to a seat in the House of Lords, with all other hereditary peers after the passage of the House of Lords Act 1999, Lord Brookeborough remained in the House as an elected crossbench hereditary peer.[2]
He has been a Lord-in-Waiting to The Queen since 1997. He is President of the Co. Fermanagh Unionist Association and was appointed as an independent member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board in 2001.[3] The Lord Brookeborough has represented The Queen as HM's Lord-in-Waiting, instead of The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, on the arrival of the U.S. President, Barack Obama, and First Lady Michelle Obama to the United Kingdom on their official state visit, on 24 May 2011.[4]
Brooke was appointed a Knight of the Order of St John by The Queen on 26 June 2014.[5]
Family
Field Marshal The 1st Viscount Alanbrooke (1883–1963) was also a member of the same family. Lord Alanbrooke was an uncle of The 1st Viscount Brookeborough.
The current Lord Brookeborough has no children. His younger brother, The Hon. Christopher Brooke (who has four sons), is his heir presumptive. Lord Brookeborough intends to eventually leave the Colebrooke Estate, including Colebrooke Park, to his nephew, his brother's eldest son and heir.
See also
References
- ↑ Brookeborough Bomb Search Continues (4ni.co.uk)
- ↑ House of Lords biography
- ↑ Brookeborough pledges to represent Fermanagh on new Police Board, The Impartial Reporter, 27 September 2001
- ↑ President Obama to get royal welcome on UK state visit, bbc.co.uk, 24 May 2001
- ↑ The London Gazette: no. 60915. p. 12658. 26 June 2014.
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Viscount Brookeborough
Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by John Brooke |
Viscount Brookeborough 1987–present |
Incumbent |
Honorary titles | ||
Preceded by The Earl Erne |
Lord Lieutenant of Fermanagh 2012–present |
Incumbent |