See also
| Husband: | Robert Bernard Brooks (1872-1939) | |
| Wife: | Fancheon Hilton Edwards (1881-1960) | |
| Marriage | 1912 | Lewisham, Kent |
| Name: | Robert Bernard Brooks | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Father: | William Brooks (1845-1878) | |
| Mother: | Ann Hilton Edwards (1844-1901) | |
| Birth | 23 Dec 1872 | Mistley, Essex |
| Baptism | 12 Mar 1873 (age 0) | Mistley, Essex (privately) |
| Education | Woodbridge Grammar School | |
| Occupation | 1903 (age 30-31) | Assistant District Commissioner, Southern Nigeria |
| Death | 28 Feb 1939 (age 66) | Felixstowe, Suffolk |
| Name: | Fancheon Hilton Edwards | |
| Sex: | Female | |
| Father: | - | |
| Mother: | Ellen Hilton Edwards (1846- ) | |
| Birth | 1881 | Kew, Surrey |
| Birth fact | 1881 (age 0) | 1881 Dec Qtr, Richmond, 2a/376 |
| Census | 1891 (age 9-10) | Living with grandmother Ellen Meliora Edwards, Camberwell |
| Death | 27 Sep 1960 (age 78-79) | Brooke House Nursing Home, Henley Road, Ipswich, Suffolk |
Except for "Brooks Street" named after him in the 1950s, nothing else remains in Uyo (Nigeria) to remind us of Robert Bernard Brooks, the Briton who established the capital city of Akwa Ibom State as a British Colonial consulate in 1902.
Consul Brooks, as he was called by the locals, was a native of Mistley, Essex. He was the third son of Mr. William Brooks of Mistley. He was reputed to have been a great sailor of small craft and had won several races even before he was 12 years old. He was also credited to have travelled round the world five times before he was 21 in the old sailing ships of the past.
Robert Brooks is said to have settled in the Bahamas where he had planted sisal until his plantation was burnt out; he then joined the British colonial service and subsequently came to Nigeria.
Records of Robert Brooks’ activities when he first came to Old Calabar are scarce. However, it is believed he spent several years in the British colonial office in Nigeria. He has been described as someone who “….took great interest in the lives and customs of the natives in the various countries where he had lived…” It must have been that interest which propelled him to explore the hinterland (the area that is today Akwa Ibom State ) of the then Old Calabar colony.
Uyo, the heartland of the Ibibio nation, had remained unexplored by the British colonialists for a long time, even after they had settled in Old Calabar and had established some colonial administrative control over Opobo and Eket around 1895.
Obong Nsentip Ekown, already exposed to Europeans through his trips to Opobo, became an ally of Robert Brooks and brought him to Uyo in 1901. Mr. Brooks lived in Ikot Mbon Ikono, on a parcel of land that is still called Ndon-Mbakara-Nsentip, meaning; “Nsentip’s white man’s estate”. This land is situated at the border between the villages of Ikot Mbon Ikono and Ukpom Abak. On page 32 of his book titled OLD CALABAR, published in 1935, M.D.W. Jeffreys described that trip to Uyo thus, “the expedition under Major Trenchard went down towards Itu as far as the Iyeri river and then swung round westwards through the present Uyo district which had not then come into existence, and went on to ‘Ukpum’ Annang near the present Abak, where Mr Brooks was left as a District Commissioner....After leaving Mr. Brooks at Ukpum, the patrol went on to Inen and camped there...”
It is said that Obong Nsentip decided to locate the white people at the border with Ukpom Abak, because traditional medicine men in Ikot Mbon Ikono, were apprehensive of the presence of white people within the heart of their village. With the help of Obong Nsentip, Robert Brooks surveyed the Uyo Area. Later, Consul Brooks relocated and finally chose the location, in Uyo village, where the present state government house, Hilltop Mansion is sited.
In 1902 Robert Brooks recommended Obong Nsentip Ekown to be crowned the first warrant ruler of Uyo by King Edward VII of England - that was why he was always referred to by the people as “Obong Mbakara” (The ruler recognized by the white man).
Later in 1902, Robert Bernard Brooks signed a treaty of friendship protection of the people of Uyo, under the British crown with Obong Nsentip Ekown and Obong Udo Eduok, thus establishing British colonial rule in the hinterland of the Ibibio nation. Brooks became the first District Commissioner (D.C.) of Uyo.
He extended his administration to other places, establishing Native Authorities (N.A) and County Councils with the help of traditional rulers and the use of some military force. Where there were no influential traditional rulers he appointed leaders to represent the people in his government. The traditional rulers were also empowered to collect taxes, to assist in the establishment of government schools, to preside over customary court cases, and to enforce the colonial decree on the surrender of guns by communities to government.
Besides Obong Nsentip Ekown and Obong Udo Eduok, other traditional rulers and leaders that worked with Brooks were chief Udo Ekong Umana Ekam from Abak, Chief Udofia Ekpene of Nnung Asang, Ikono, Uyo, Chief Akpan Adiaha Ikwot of Ikot Ofon, Ikono, Uyo, etc.
Consul Robert Bernard Brooks was said to have been struck by an unknown but devastating illness that wrecked his health, after he had fought for Britain in the First World War in Cameroon as a Major and had witnessed the capture of Duala, Cameroon from the Germans. His poor health condition forced him to retire from colonial service prematurely. He died in 1937 (sic.) in Felixstowe, Suffolk.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:ItoroIkono/sandbox (accessed 12.2.2012)
BROOKS Robert Bernard of Uyo Martello Lane Felixstowe Suffolk died 28 February 1939. Probate Ipswich 2 May to Fancheon Brooks widow. Effects £3432 17s. 6d.
BROOKS Fancheon of Uyo Martello Lane Old Felixstowe Suffolk widow died 27 September 1960 at Brooke House Nursing Home Henley Road Ipswich. Probate Ipswich 15 November to Barclays Bank Limited. Effects £22838 11s. 11d.