John Henry Brookes

Brookes was born in Northampton, England. His father was head of the Boot and Shoe Department of Leicester College of Technology.

Brookes trained in silversmithing at the Chipping Campden Guild of Handicrafts. He was an accomplished artist but became both an inspirational teacher and accomplished administrator. In 1922, he was appointed as a part-time teacher of sculpture in the Oxford City School of Arts and Crafts.

In 1934, the technical and art schools were merged as the Schools of Technology Art and Commerce. John Henry Brookes was the first principal. There were ten full-time staff and 1,284 students. By 1946, the schools were in 19 sites around the city and John Henry Brookes had of necessity become an accomplished cyclist.

With the spread of the schools around the town there was a great desire to move them all onto one site. The Morrells brewing family offered 33 acres at the top of Headington Hill and plans were drawn up, but the City Council turned them down. There was a great public protest and a citizens meeting was held in a packed Town Hall. Eventually the plans were approved. The foundation stone was laid by Lord Nuffield.

Brookes encouraged printing as a discipline in the college and also had many of his own drawings published. For many years his pen and ink drawings were a regular feature of the Oxford Times.

He was very much involved in the Oxford community and was on many committees especially those concerned with young people. He was a magistrate for many years and when he retired from the college he became one of the directors of the Oxford Playhouse.

Built on his solid foundations, the Schools of Technology Art and Commerce evolved into Oxford College of Technology, Oxford Polytechnic and, finally, into Oxford Brookes University.

• John Henry Brookes: Craftsman, Educator, Administrator, edited by A. Stuart Addison. Oxford Polytechnic Press (November 1979)
• John Henry Brookes: the man who inspired a university, by Bryan Brown. Oxford Brookes University (2015). ISBN 9780992929930

• "John Henry Brookes". Oxford Brookes University. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013.
• "John Henry Brookes (1891–1976)", Headington history: People