~ ST. PAULS CHURCH MEMORIALS, CANTERBURY ~

Sir William ROOKE

 

Sir Williams seat was at St. Lawrence, Canterbury, at which he lived and died. Here too lived his more distinguished son, Admiral Sir George Rooke, who helped to drive out the next Sovereign of that Stuart line to which his father had been so devoted. William III. promoted him to the rank of rear admiral of the red, and his capture of Gibraltar in 1704, won for him a lasting fame in English history. Queen Anne received him with all honour, but he retired still in the prime of life, to spend a few years in his quiet home at Canterbury. There he died in 1708, and was buried in St. Paul's church. Still another Rooke is connected with the traditions of St. Paul's having fought a duel in the North Holmes with Ensign Buckeridge. Both were killed. A stone, on which the words "Rooke died here" are barely legible, still marks the spot.

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