Samuel Brooks

Samuel Brooks

Samuel Brooks (1792–1864) was born at Great Harwood, near Whalley in Lancashire, England, the second son of William Brooks. In 1815 he became a partner in his father’s Blackburn-based business, Cunliffe Brooks & Co. This business supplied cotton [ Sayers ] and/or textile equipment [ Brackenbury ] and also ran a bank as a sideline. Around 1819 his father set up Samuel and his two brothers as junior partners in three separate firms of calico printers in Manchester. Samuel opened a small branch of his father’s bank in a corner of his warehouse. Gradually, banking became his principal activity, and in 1826 the bank moved to its own premises. It soon became established as one of Manchester’s leading banks. In 1830, Brooks chaired the first meeting of the promoters of the Manchester and Leeds Railway Railway, and became its first deputy chairman.

Whalley Range

In 1836 he bought Jackson’s Moss, a swampy area south-east of the city centre. He drained it and built villas for wealthy businessmen such as himself. The area was named Whalley Range after his boyhood home. A tollbar guarded this exclusive area and this place is still called “Brooks’s Bar”.

Brooklands

In 1856 Samuel bought a vast area of land in North Cheshire (within Trafford since 1974) from the Earl of Stamford and made further purchases later. He enhanced its value by draining, scrub clearance and tree planting. The area was crossed by the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway, opened in 1849.

Railway station

A road crossed this railway between Sale and Timperley stations, and in 1855, 45 residents petitioned for a station there. The company took no action but in 1859, Brooks negotiated terms for a station. He offered an acre of land for £200, and guaranteed to pay the company £300 if annual receipts had not reached £100 after five years. The unofficial name "Brooks’s land" soon became Brooklands, and the station so named opened there on 1 December 1859. Annual receipts reached £100 after two years.

Private road

As at Whalley Range, so at Brooklands he built a private road in 1862 with land available for superior residences. This road was four miles long and led to the station. It was wide and tree lined, with a sound stone foundation. From Brooklands Station it led straight in a south-easterly direction for 2 ½ miles. It crossed the Stockport-Altrincham turnpike (now the A560) and two minor roads: Dobbinetts Lane and Whitecarr lane. It then used Roaring Gate Lane to Davenport Green before providing a further new road to the Altrincham-Wilmslow road (now the A538) in the village of Hale. Brooks’s road can easily be followed today (2007).

Beyond the immediate vicinity of Brooklands, most of this road was not used for development. It may have been made for Samuel’s own convenience in travelling around his estate. Since World War II, development has been restricted by planning laws and some of the road still passes through greenbelt agricultural land. Other parts are likely to be developed in the near future.

ources

* Brackenbury, Allan: The Road from Brooklands Station, Journal of the Railway and Canal History Society, Vol 31, Pt 4, No. 156, pp 170-174 (Nov 1993)

* Sayers, R S: Lloyds Bank in the History of English Banking, OUP 1957, page 331.

Notes

External Reference

* [http://www.rchs.org.uk Railway and Canal History Society]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Samuel Brooks (Canadian politician) — Samuel Brooks (1793 ndash; March 22 1849) was an American born merchant and political figure in Lower Canada.He was born in Haverhill, New Hampshire, the son of merchant Samuel Brooks. He set up business in Newbury, Vermont. He married Elizabeth… …   Wikipedia

  • Samuel Brooks House — Das Samuel Brooks House in Cornwall, New York Samuel Brooks House ist ein um 1860 erbautes Cottage an der Pleasant Hill Road im Weiler Mountainville in Cornwall, New York in den Vereinigten Staaten. Es handelt sich dabei um eine Mischung… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Brooks (surname) — Brooks is a surname that was thought by the early twentieth century to have been derived from the condition of residing near a stream (or brook).cite book | title = Origin and History of the Name of Brooks: With Biographies of All the Most Noted… …   Wikipedia

  • Brooks Baronets — There have been two Baronetcies created for persons with the surname Brooke, both in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. One creation is extant as of 2007.The Brooks Baronetcy, of Manchester in the County of Lancaster, was created in the… …   Wikipedia

  • Samuel Hoar — (May 18, 1778 November 2, 1856) was a United States lawyer and politician. A member of a prominent political family in Massachusetts, he was a leading 19th century lawyer of that state. He was associated with the Federalist Party until its… …   Wikipedia

  • Samuel Francis — Samuel Todd Francis (April 29, 1947 ndash;February 15, 2005) was an anti capitalist [Francis, Samuel. Capitalism the Enemy. Chronicles August 2000.] paleoconservative columnist, nationally syndicated in America, known for his racialist views;… …   Wikipedia

  • Samuel Mejia — Fiche d’identité Nationalité …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Brooks School — is a private, co educational, preparatory, secondary school in North Andover, Massachusetts on the shores of Lake Cochichewick.HistoryThe school was founded in 1926 by the Reverend Endicott Peabody, the headmaster of Groton School at the time,… …   Wikipedia

  • Samuel McKelvie — Samuel Roy McKelvie (* 15. April 1881 bei Fairfield, Nebraska; † 6. Januar 1956 in Mesa, Arizona) war ein US amerikanischer Politiker und zwischen 1919 und 1923 der 20. Gouverneur von Nebraska. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Frühe Jahre und politischer… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Brooks Atkinson Theatre — showing A Moon for the Misbegotten, 2007 The Brooks Atkinson Theatre is a Broadway theater located at 256 West 47th Street in Manhattan. Designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp, it was constructed as the Mansfield Theatre by the Chanin brothers in …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”