Richard Brooke or Broke (died 1569) bought the manor of

Norton Norton may refer to: Places Norton, meaning 'north settlement' in Old English, is a common place name. Places named Norton include: Canada * Rural Municipality of Norton No. 69, Saskatchewan *Norton Parish, New Brunswick **Norton, New Brunswick, a ...

, near

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and cargo port in the Borough of Halton in Cheshire, England. Its population in 2011 was 61,789. The town is in the southeast of the Liverpool City Region, with Liverpool to the northwest across the River Mersey. ...

, Cheshire from Henry VIII in 1545 following the dissolution of the monasteries. The manor included the former monastery of

Norton Priory Norton Priory is a historic site in Norton, Runcorn, Cheshire, England, comprising the remains of an abbey complex dating from the 12th to 16th centuries, and an 18th-century country house; it is now a museum. The remains are a scheduled ...

and also the settlements of Norton, Stockham, Acton Grange and Aston Grange in Cheshire and

Cuerdley Cuerdley is a civil parish in the Borough of Warrington, Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

Richard Brooke was the younger son of Thomas Brooke of Leighton in

Nantwich Nantwich ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It has among the highest concentrations of listed buildings in England, with notably good examples of Tudor and Georgian architecture. ...

Hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...

. In his earlier life he had been a soldier and he was admitted as a Knight of Malta in 1531. He then became Commander of Mount St. John in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. After the suppression of the Order by Henry VIII circa 1542, he was relieved of his religious vows and held the office of Vice-Admiral of England. In May 1544 he served in Lord Hertford's army in Scotland which sacked and burnt Edinburgh. Brooke captured and destroyed the fortress on the island of

Inchgarvie Inchgarvie or Inch Garvie is a small, uninhabited island in the Firth of Forth. On the rocks around the island sit four caissons that make up the foundations of the Forth Bridge. Inchgarvie's fortifications pre-date the modern period. In the day ...

in the '' Galley Subtile'' on 6 May 1544. In September 1547 an English navy commanded by Lord Clinton comprising 34 warships with 26 support vessels sailed to Scotland. The ''Galley Subtle'', captained by Richard Brooke, bombarded the Scottish army at the

battle of Pinkie The Battle of Pinkie, also known as the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh ( , ), took place on 10 September 1547 on the banks of the River Esk near Musselburgh, Scotland. The last pitched battle between Scotland and England before the Union of the Crow ...

. William Patten included the ship in one of his plans of the battlefield, depicted in the woodcut with its oars visible, close to Musselburgh. The guns of the ''Galley'' and other ships in English fleet were recorded in an inventory. The ''Galley'' carried two brass demi-cannons, two brass Flanders demi-culverins, breech-loading iron double basses and single basses. It was also called the ''Rose'' or ''Red Galley''. After Pinkie, on 15 September Broke and the ''Galley Subtle'' rowed up the

River Forth The River Forth is a major river in central Scotland, long, which drains into the North Sea on the east coast of the country. Its drainage basin covers much of Stirlingshire in Scotland's Central Belt. The Gaelic name for the upper reach of t ...

Blackness Castle Blackness Castle is a 15th-century fortress, near the village of Blackness, Scotland, on the south shore of the Firth of Forth. It was built, probably on the site of an earlier fort, by Sir George Crichton in the 1440s. At this time, Blackne ...

. After an exchange of fire he captured the '' Mary Willoughby'', the ''Anthony of Newcastle'' and the ''Bosse'', and burnt other ships. Following the dissolution of the monasteries, the abbey of Norton Priory was made inhospitable. Having bought the property, it seems that Brooke did not have the resources necessary to build an expensive house and therefore he modified the west range of the abbey as his residence, while the

cloister A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a ...

became a rubbish dump. The remaining buildings and the church were demolished and sold for building stone. Following the accession of Queen Mary to the throne in 1553, Brooke assisted

Reginald Pole Reginald Pole (12 March 1500 – 17 November 1558) was an English cardinal of the Catholic Church and the last Catholic archbishop of Canterbury, holding the office from 1556 to 1558, during the Counter-Reformation. Early life Pole was bor ...

in the re-establishment of the Order of St John in England. Brooke was Sheriff of Cheshire in 1563. He was succeeded at Norton Priory by his eldest son, Thomas.

Family

He married Christian, daughter of John Carew of Haccombe in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, with whom he had three sons. Richard Brooke's daughter Christiane married Richard Grosvenor of Eaton and was the mother of

Sir Richard Grosvenor, 1st Baronet Sir Richard Grosvenor, 1st Baronet (9 January 1585 – 14 September 1645) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1621 and 1629. He is an ancestor of the modern day Dukes of Westminster. Grosveno ...

, the ancestor of the Dukes of Westminster.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooke, Richard 1569 deaths People from Runcorn Knights of Malta English admirals 16th-century Royal Navy personnel Year of birth unknown