| Brook Hannah | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Brook Hannah when playing for Carlton Football Club
| |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Charles Brooking Hannah | ||
| Date of birth | (1874-09-28)28 September 1874 | ||
| Place of birth | Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia | ||
| Date of death | 14 January 1961(1961-01-14) (aged 86) | ||
| Place of death | Tunbridge Wells, England | ||
| Position(s) | Rover / Forward | ||
| Other occupation | Missionary | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1897 | Carlton | 14 (0) | |
|
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1897. | |||
| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
Charles Brooking 'Brook' Hannah (28 September 1874 – 14 January 1961) was a former Australian rules footballer turned missionary who played with Carlton in the Victorian Football League (VFL; formerly Victorian Football Association [VFA]).[1]
Brook Hannah was born on 28 September 1874 to William Hannah and Polly Lewis. His family home "Llanellan", was named after a township in Wales. It was said that his father became estranged from the family and supposedly sailed to New Zealand.[2]
He studied law at the University of Melbourne before his debut for the "Maroons" against Carlton on 15 July 1893. He is accredited with at least 37 VFA games and a further 14 for Carlton in the VFL, and was considered one of the best players afield.[2] Carlton captain Jimmy Aitken said that "Brook Hannah defeated Collingwood's Pannam pointless and had worked over Geelong's McCallum in a similar fashion two weeks earlier."[3]
After retiring from playing football, Hannah joined the China Inland Mission as an ordained missionary, and served as an assistant superintendenttoBishop Mowll of the Anglican Diocese of Szechwan.[2] He survived the attacks on foreign Christian missionaries during the Boxer Rebellion. He later worked in Tanganyika (now part of Tanzania). Hannah served as a missionary for over 50 years before retiring to Tunbridge Wells in England with his wife, May, an English-born missionary, where he died on 14 January 1961.[2]
Brook Hannah met his future wife May, also a missionary, in China. The couple married around 1904. They had two sons, David and John, both died in infancy.[2]
