Robert Brook (floruit 1590-1600) was a London goldsmith. Brook worked in London's Lombard Street. In 1594 he lent money to Bartholomew Gilbert and Robert Howe, who had a large diamond for sale. He raised the money to redeem the diamond for himself from Giles Simpson, a goldsmith and pawnbroker at the Sign of the White Bear in Lombard Street. Gilbert was questioned by Sir Richard Martin about the origin of the diamond and insisted he obtained it from a sailor at

Limehouse Limehouse is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is east of Charing Cross, on the northern bank of the River Thames. Its proximity to the river has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains throug ...

, introduced to him by John Maddox from Ipswich. He made the deal in the house of John Terry, a

Cheapside Cheapside is a street in the City of London, the historic and modern financial centre of London, which forms part of the A40 London to Fishguard road. It links St. Martin's Le Grand with Poultry. Near its eastern end at Bank junction, where ...

jeweler. William Hamour said that Brook had given him the diamond for safe-keeping and his wife Alice had lost it. Alice said she no knowledge of the diamond. In 1596 the sailor Nicholas Saunders wrote twice to

Sir Robert Cecil Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, (1 June 156324 May 1612), was an English statesman noted for his direction of the government during the Union of the Crowns, as Tudor England gave way to Stuart rule (1603). Lord Salisbury served as the ...

describing a remarkable hat from the Americas which had been bought from Robert Brook by John Battersby of Plymouth, a former pedlar. The hat was woven with silver and pearl, but was now old and worn. At first sight Saunders had mistakenly thought it was a hat obtained by Sir

Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer, and politician. Drake is best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580 (t ...

from an "Indian king or viceroy" that a Captain Morris had described to him. Brook had dealings with Scottish merchants and diplomats, especially those who came to London to collect an annual subsidy or annuity given by Queen Elizabeth to

James VI James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

. In May 1598 James Hudson wrote that the Scottish goldsmith

Thomas Foulis Thomas Foulis ( fl. 1580–1628) was a Scottish goldsmith, mine entrepreneur, and royal financier. Thomas Foulis was an Edinburgh goldsmith and financier, and was involved in the mint and coinage, gold and lead mining, and from May 1591 the receip ...

had pawned a gold lion set with a ruby worth £400 with Robert Brook, which Hudson suggested belonged to James VI. Foulis's business partner

Robert Jousie Robert Jousie (or Joussie or Jowsie or Jossie; died 1626) was a Scottish merchant, financier, and courtier. Life Jousie was a cloth merchant based in Edinburgh with a house on the High Street or Royal Mile. He became an exclusive supplier of fa ...

was unable to pay Brook's interest or other sums due by Hudson, and money they jointly owed to Hudson. The

Earl of Lincoln Earl of Lincoln is a title that has been created eight times in the Peerage of England, most recently in 1572. The title was borne by the Duke of Newcastle, Dukes of Newcastle-under-Lyne from 1768 to 1988, until the dukedom became extinct. Earl ...

pawned his best jewellery with Brook, and in October 1598 forfeited his "rarest chains and jewells". Robert's children, Robert, Thomas, Dorothy, and John, were baptised at

St Mary Woolnoth St Mary Woolnoth is an Anglican church in the City of London, located on the corner of Lombard Street and King William Street near Bank junction. The present building is one of the Queen Anne Churches, designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor. The paris ...

.J. M. S. Brooke & A. W. C. Hallen, ''The transcript of the registers of the united parishes of S. Mary Woolnoth and S. Mary Woolchurch Haw'' (London, 1886), pp. 23-5, 201.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brook, Robert People from London English goldsmiths 16th-century English businesspeople