The Nottingham Post said of him that he "had original ideas and courage to express them,"[2] and that "he endeared himself to successive generations of parishioners and citizens ...

"[3] He was the fourth child of Charles Holbrook (born 1820), a silk mercer in Reading, in 1861 employing five men, three women and two boys.

[12] In 1890 his patrons were the Trustees, the first charge on the church expenses fund was £50, his ecclesiastical commission was £120 and other sources of income were £30.

[8] On Wednesday 20 February 1889 he attended the opening celebrations of a four-day bazaar in Huddersfield Town Hall to raise money for the St Paul's Day Schools.

[15] The United Kingdom Census 1891 finds him single, describing himself as vicar of St Mark's, and boarding at 28 George Street, Huddersfield, at the house of Annie Plowright, a widow.

[2][1][17] The United Kingdom Census 1901 finds him still single, at 22 Arboretum St, Nottingham, describing himself as a clergyman (Church of England), and living with a housekeeper and servant.

[2] On his retirement, Henry Mosley, Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham, said of Holbrook: "There was no man in the diocese more beloved than the Canon, not only because of the years of faithful service he had given to the parish of Holy Trinity with St Mark's and to the city of Nottingham, but because he had embodied in himself and his ministry the real characteristics of a true pastor of the Church."

"[2] The 1911 Census finds him still single at age 51, at the same address which was possibly Holy Trinity's vicarage, since it had eight rooms.