Henry Hook (VC) - Background

Background

Born in Churcham, Gloucestershire, Hook originally joined the Monmouth Militia before enlisting in the regular army in March 1877, aged 26. Previously serving in the 9th Xhosa War in 1877, he received a scalp injury during the battle of Rorke's Drift, and retired from the regular army 17 months later in June 1880, but later served 20 years in 1st Volunteer Battalion, Royal Fusiliers, reaching the rank of Sergeant-Instructor. He received his VC from Sir Garnet Wolseley, GOC South Africa at Rorke's Drift on 3 August 1879. He retired in 1904, returning to Gloucestershire, where he died the next year. After his 1880 discharge he was found the position of Inside Duster at the British Museum thanks to the intervention of Gonville Bromhead, Lord Chelmsford and the Prince of Wales. He was subsequently promoted to take charge of readers umbrellas, before resigning due to ill health in 1904. During this period he lived at Sydenham Hill. He died of pulmonary tuberculosis on 12 March 1905 at Osborne Villas, Roseberry Avenue, Gloucester and is buried in St Andrew's churchyard, Churcham.

In his autobiography, pop singer Mark E. Smith claimed that Hook was an ancestor of his father, which led to the Smith family being invited as guests of honour to the Whitefield showing of Zulu.

Another relative, Ronald Hook of Gloucester (1922–1995), whose father had known Henry Hook well, served in the Parachute Regiment in World War Two and was among the first wave of Allied airborne troops to land on D-Day. Two of Ronald Hook's sons (Timothy and Andrew) served in the Royal Navy. Andrew Hook fought in the Falklands War. Ronald Hook's grandson is the barrister Antony Hook (1980–present) who worked in southern Africa (Hwange, Matabeleland) in 1998 on the construction of a clinic by an expedition of Scouts. Ronald's wife Peggy (Margaret) Hook (1922–present) still lives in Gloucester.

Antony Hook once remarked to an audience of students at Dover Grammar School for Boys, "The needs of Victorian society required my relative Henry Hook to travel to the other side of the world and fight with courage and honour. Modern society enabled and equally required me to go the same region for purposes of peace and friendship. The time has passed when we needed to so frequently call together so many young men to go and fight and we should all be grateful for that."