Who Was Sam Brooks

Reader's Letters & Queries: NarrowBoat, Spring 2013

Whilst working with the Braunston strike photographs (Spring 2012 NB) recently, in preparation to add them to my www.steamershistorical.co.uk website, I was intrigued to compare the various faces of Mr Brooks, which appear in so many of the images. In order to administer the strike at Braunston, the Transport & General Workers Union sent Mr Sam Brooks from Area 5 headquarters at West Bromwich. He took up residence at the Ship Hotel, adjacent to the wharf and FMC’s depot. Despite minimal experience of the canal trade, Brooks made a big impression on the boatmen, not just by his physical appearance – for he was a tall, well built man – but also for the way in which he organised a wide range of social activities in addition to his more usual union duties. The trilby hat that he habitually wore became his trademark and it was easy to see the hat in photographs and assume that it was Sam Brooks who wore it. It was not until I started to study the faces below the br…