Paternal ancestor: Matthew Parker (1504 - 1575) born in Norwich the son of a tailor. From Anne Boleyn's Chaplin to Archbishop of Canterbury during the reign of Elizabeth 1st. The Parker family continued to be based in Norfolk until November 1761 when John Parker squire of Berry Hall of Great Walsingham married his daughter to William Brooke from the nearby village of Geist. 1909 Rupert moved to Grantchester. 9th August 1912 Rupert Brooke stayed at Beckhythe Manor, Overstrand, Norfolk with the academics Gilbert and Rosalind Murray. On the 7th March 1913 Rupert heard that he had been elected to a Fellow of King's College Cambridge. Edward Marsh arranged a celebratory evening attended by Miss Violet Asquith, the Prime Ministers daughter, her sister-in-law Cynthia Asquith wife of Herbert Asquith Violets brother, and Clementine Churchill, wife of Eddy's boss Winston Churchill, Clementine was only 2 years older than Rupert. His progress into the world of the social elite continued, attending a birthday gathering for Violet Asquith in Downing Street. At the age of seventeen Rupert became friends with the poet St John Welles Lucas-Lucas who was 25 at this time, he went on to become editor of the Oxford Book of French Verse. It seems that Ruperts first crush was on Charles Lascelles while he was at Rugby, he had his photo in his room at Cambridge (1908), and was requesting Georffrey Keynes for Charles Lascelles London address in 1913. His first intimate relationship is thought to of been with Denham Russell-Smith younger brother of Hugh one of his best friends at Rugby, he would visit with Hugh during the summer holidays at Brockenhurst , Rupert was eighteen and Denham sixteen when their friendship began, Denham was 20 when the relationship became intimate at Grantchester, Denham was to die aged only 23. Michael Sadlier became an companion of Ruperts, his birth name was Michael Sadler but he added the I to become Sadlier to distiguish himself from his father of the same name, he went on to Oxford as did Lascelles, while Rupert went up to Cambridge (King's). Also accepted at Cambridge were his friends Geoffrey Keynes ( Pembroke), and Hugh Russell-Smith (St John's). Duncan Grant was the one Bloomsbury member that he remained friends with for the rest of his life, Duncan was also part of the group that made up Edward Marsh's set along with Harry Norton. |
