Samuel Brooks

Samuel Brooks (12 August 1793 – 7 June 1864) was an English cotton manufacturer and banker. Life He was born at Great Harwood, near Whalley, 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 and/or textile equipment, 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 1900 it was absorbed by Lloyd's Bank to provide them with a presence in the Manchester area. Subsequently Brooks established the first housing estates in Whalley Range (which he named) and Brooklands (which acquired its name from common usage). Brooks died in 1864. He had married Margaret Hall, daughter of Thomas Hall, and had a son William, who became an MP and was made a baronet.