Institution in Finsbury Circus, where he became a popular lecturer on a number of scientific topics which included a course of holiday lectures on the philosophy of magic. Brough and his wife, Mary Elizabeth, had two sons and a daughter and also adopted the son and daughter of his late sister, Frances Chilton. His eldest son, Bennett Hooper Brough (1860–1908), became a mining engineer, and his niece, Fanny Brough, was a popular actress. Brough suffered from heart disease, most likely the result of a childhood attack of rheumatic fever, that forced him to curtail his workload as he entered his mid-thirties. He died in 1872 at Esher, aged 38 and was buried at West Norwood Cemetery. Friends and colleagues later raised £2,000 to help support his wife and children. Sources External links 1834 births 1872 deaths 19th-century English writers Burials at West Norwood Cemetery 19th-century English male writers