Background
Charlotte Brooke was educated by her father Henry Brooke, and she immersed herself in reading history and literature at an early age.
linguist translator author poet
Charlotte Brooke was educated by her father Henry Brooke, and she immersed herself in reading history and literature at an early age.
She was one of twenty-two children fathered by the writer Henry Brooke, author of Gustavus Vasa. Only she (and perhaps one other sibling) survived childhood. From an early age she was attracted to books
While the rest of her family was sleeping, Brooke would go down to the study where she would spend hours reading.
She was led to the study of the Irish language, and in less than two years she found herself in love with lieutenant From reading Irish poetry and admiring its beauties, she proceeded to translate it into English, one of her earliest efforts being a song and monody by Carolan, which appeared in Joseph Cooper Walker"s "Historical Memoirs of Irish Bards." Brooke, who was frail herself, took care of her father after her mother died in 1773.
Meanwhile, the family had moved back to county Cavan, where they began living in a house they named Longfield which had been built near the Rantavan estate. Late In 1792, Brooke had taken up a life with friends in Longford, sharing a cottage due to her lack of income.
On March 29, 1793, Charlotte Brooke passed of a malignant fever.
Walkerand other members of the recently created Royal Irish Academy sought to make an income for her, but Charlotte realized she had to rely on her writings and translations.