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Joseph Charles Holbrooke (5 July 1878 - 5 August 1958) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was sometimes referred to as "the cockney Wagner".
He was born Joseph Charles Holbrook in Croydon, Surrey. His father, also Joseph, was a music hall musician and teacher, and his mother Helen was a Scottish singer. He had two older sisters (Helen and Mary) and two younger brothers (Robert and James). His mother died when he was only two years old. When he was a young man, he and his father both taught music from the same residence, and the occasional confusion may have influenced his decision to change his name. He changed his name to Joseph Holbrooke, and later to Josef Holbrooke.
Joseph and his wife Dorothy (known as 'Dot') married in 1903 and had four children: Mildred (born 1905), Anton (1908), Barbara (1910)[4] and Gwydion (1912). His son changed his name to Gwydion Brooke and was a prominent English bassoonist.
Holbrooke died in London.
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