Margaret, Lady Brooke, Ranee of Sarawak (born Margaret Alice Lili de Windt; 9 October 1849 – 1 December 1936) was the ranee of the second White Rajah of Sarawak, Charles Anthony Johnson Brooke. She published her memoir, My Life in Sarawak, in 1913. The memoir offers a rare glimpse of life in The Astana in Kuching and colonial Borneo. The Ranee became legendary during her lifetime as a woman of strength and intelligence, as well as on account of her status, which she shared with the other White Rajahs, of being at once a British subject and an Asian monarch.

Margaret
Portrait of Margaret of Sarawak wearing her royal attire, around 1910.
Ranee of Sarawak
Tenure28 October 1869 – 17 May 1917
BornMargaret Alice Lili de Windt
(1849-10-09)9 October 1849
Paris, France
Died1 December 1936(1936-12-01) (aged 87)
London, England, UK
SpouseCharles Brooke
IssueDayang Ghita Brooke
James Harry Brooke
Charles Clayton Brooke
Charles Vyner Brooke
Bertram Brooke
Harry Keppel Brooke
Names
Margaret Alice Lili de Windt
HouseWhite Rajahs (by marriage)
FatherJoseph Clayton Jennyns de Windt
MotherElizabeth Sarah Johnson

Life

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Born Margaret Alice Lili de Windt, she was the daughter of Captain Joseph Clayton Jennyns de Windt, of Blunsdon House[1] (between Swindon and Highworth, in Wiltshire, England), and Elizabeth Sarah Johnson. Her younger brother, Harry de Windt, was a well-known explorer and travel writer.

She married Rajah Charles at Highworth on 28 October 1869, and was raised to the title of Ranee of Sarawak with the style of Her Highness upon their marriage. The marriage was arranged to solve the succession issue in Sarawak. She followed her spouse to Sarawak, where she became the first in her position, the previous (and first) Rajah being unmarried. The Astana was built for her as a wedding present by her spouse. Ranee Margaret Brooke was described as intelligent, forceful, non-sentimental and with the ability to dominate by her presence. Though her relationship with Charles soon deteriorated, she secured an independent position for herself and left Charles in the 1880s.

Her first three children died within a week of each other on board ship in the Red Sea in 1873, while returning to England with the Rajah. Once three more sons were born,[2] the couple separated again and lived estranged, with Rajah Charles living in Sarawak and Margaret in London, where she was at the centre of a social circle that included several of the leading literary talents of the 1890s, such as Oscar Wilde and Henry James.[3] She financed the education of her sons by pawning the diamond Star of Sarawak, and arranged the marriages of her sons by organising social events for the British aristocracy and introducing her sons to daughters of the British nobility to marry. Her title of ranee or queen gave her a position in London society, and through it she gave prestige to Sarawak.[citation needed]

Compositions

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Margaret Brooke composed the national anthem of Sarawak, Gone Forth Beyond the Sea, in 1872.

Legacy

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Fort Margherita, in Kuching, was named after her.

 
Fort Margherita was erected by Rajah Charles and named after his wife, the Ranee Margaret

One of Oscar Wilde's fairytales, "The Young King", is dedicated to "Margaret, Lady Brooke, The Ranee of Sarawak".

Works

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  • My Life in Sarawak (Methuen & Co., 1913)
  • Impromptus (Edward Arnold, 1923)
  • Good Morning & Good Night (Constable & Co., 1934)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Sunday blazing Sunday brings down Blunsdon Abbey, recalls Barry Leighton". Swindon Advertiser. 9 March 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
  2. ^ Crisswell, C.N, Rajah Charles Brooke, Oxford University Press (1978), pp.108-109
  3. ^ Mix, Katherine Lyon (1960). A Study in Yellow: The Yellow Book and Its Contributors. p. 261.

Sources

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  • Koninklijk Genootschap voor Geslacht- en Wapenkunde, Nederlandse Genealogieen 11, Den Haag 1996 (Literature regarding Broek-De Wind)
  • M. R. H. Calmeyer, de Wind, de Windt, de Wint, Name: De Nederlandsche Leeuw; Location: The Nederlands; Date: 1981;, Pag 23. Co - Author Mr. O. Schutte.
Margaret Brooke
Brooke family
Born: 1849 Died: 1936
Regnal titles
New title Ranee of Sarawak
1869–1917
Succeeded by