Jason Brooke
Brooke in 2016
Born
Jason Desmond Anthony Brooke

(1985-04-22) 22 April 1985 (age 39)
London
Known forChairman of The Brooke Trust[1]
SpouseKate Maria Brooke
ChildrenJago Charles Bertram Brooke
Charles Argus Michael Brooke
Parents
  • James Bertram Lionel Brooke[1] (father)
  • Karen Mary Lappin (mother)
RelativesLaurence Nicholas Brooke (brother)[1]
Anthony Brooke (grandfather) [1]
Bertram Brooke (great-grandfather)

Jason Desmond Anthony Brooke FRAS (born 22 April 1985) is the grandson of the last Rajah Muda of Sarawak, Anthony Walter Dayrell Brooke, and a prominent representative of the Brooke Dynasty in Sarawak.[2]

Background

Born in London, Brooke grew up there, in Edinburgh and the east coast of Ireland, reading English Literature at University College Dublin, and earning an MPhil International Relations from Trinity College, Dublin. A keen rower, Brooke served as Captain of the Boats, University College Dublin Boat Club, for 2007/2008.

In 2011, Brooke sought on behalf of his family a formal exoneration from the British Government for his grandfather, over allegations Anthony Brooke had been complicit in the assassination of Duncan Stewart, the Governor of Sarawak, in 1949. The release of previously missing records clearing Anthony's name led to a BBC Radio 4 documentary aired in March 2011, just weeks after Anthony's death.[3] In 2013, Brooke brought his grandfather's ashes to Sarawak for burial following a large public memorial service. The Acting British High Commissioner to Malaysia attended and offered an apology on behalf of the United Kingdom, clearing Anthony's name of any involvement.[4]

He is President of the Sarawak Association, founded by his great-grandfather Bertram, Tuan Muda of Sarawak in 1924. He is a member of the Borneo Research Council and has served on the Council of the British Malaysian Society.[5] He is best-known for his role as a prominent representative of the Brooke Dynasty, and as Director of the UK charity, the Brooke Trust.

Brooke Trust

In 2010, Jason Brooke sets up Brooke Trust, with the encouragement of his grandfather Anthony Brooke to preserve the collections of artifacts and papers related to Brooke family and its dynasty in Sarawak.[6]

Through the Brooke Trust, Jason digitised the Papers of the Brookes of Sarawak in 2012 and made these freely available online.[7]

In 2012, Brooke Trust started a project of "Brooke Gallery" to be housed in Fort Margherita in Kuching, a project which was realised on 24 September 2016, the 175th anniversary of the founding of the State of Sarawak.[8][9]

Jason Brooke has been responsible for signing important memoranda with the Sarawak State Library in Kuching, the Sarawak State Museum, and local communities. In September 2016 he was appointed a technical advisor on a then-upcoming feature film on the life of his ancestor, Sir James Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak.[10][11] The film, titled Edge of the World, was released in 2021.[12] A letter of agreement was signed by the Trust with Swinburne University of Technology through its Sarawak campus in 2023 to collaborate on historical preservation of kingdom-era documents.[13] He currently divides his time between London and Sarawak.

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Ensuring the Brooke legacy lives on". The Borneo Post. 14 February 2016. Archived from the original on 30 November 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  2. ^ "Paramount chief descendants thankful to the White Rajahs". The Borneo Post. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  3. ^ Thomson, Mike (12 March 2012). "The stabbed governor of Sarawak". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
    – Thomson, Mike. "12/03/2012". Document. BBC Radio 4.
  4. ^ "Farewell to the Crown Prince". The Borneo Post. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  5. ^ "The Brooke Heritage Trust". Brooketrust.org. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  6. ^ Brooke, Jason (2019). "The Brooke Trust - 10 years in Sarawak (subscription required)". Borneo Research Bulletin. 50: 194–198. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  7. ^ "Brooke records now available to public". New Sarawak Tribune. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  8. ^ "Fort Margherita to house historical artefacts". The Borneo Post. 12 December 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  9. ^ "Brooke Gallery opens". The Borneo Post. 25 September 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  10. ^ "'White Rajah' movie worth USD 15 mill expected to shoot next year". New Straits Times. 28 June 2013. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2014.
  11. ^ "White Rajah: Malaysia's first Hollywood epic film". Star2.com. 6 July 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  12. ^ Bilington, Alex (22 April 2021). "Official US Trailer for 'Edge of the World' with Jonathan Rhys Meyers". Firstshowing.net. Archived from the original on 20 February 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  13. ^ "Swinburne Sarawak and The Brooke Heritage Trust sign LoA to support research collaboration". Swinburne University, Sarawak, Malaysia. 1 December 2023. Retrieved 22 April 2024.

External links

Categories