William Brooks (1762–1846) was a supplier of cotton to spinners around Whalley and

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

. He was the son of John Brooks of Waddington, Lancashire. He went into partnership with Roger Cunliffe, of the Cunliffe family of Great Harwood, who had been

mercers The Worshipful Company of Mercers is the premier Livery Company of the City of London and ranks first in the order of precedence of the Companies. It is the first of the Great Twelve City Livery Companies. Although of even older origin, the c ...

since Elizabethan times. At first cotton manufacturing was the main activity, but in 1792 they founded Cunliffe Brooks Bank at Blackburn. On Brooks' death in 1846 the bank moved its head office to Manchester. He had married Sarah Greenall, the daughter of Richard Greenall They had three sons, including John and

Samuel Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bibl ...

and a daughter, Nancy. They lived near

Whalley, Lancashire Whalley is a large village and civil parish in the Ribble Valley on the banks of the River Calder in Lancashire, England. It is overlooked by Whalley Nab, a large wooded hill over the river from the village. The population of the civil parish ...

References

Sources

*R S Sayers, R S: Lloyds Bank in the History of English Banking, OUP 1957, page 331. *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) 1762 births 1846 deaths Cotton industry in England British bankers {{UK-business-bio-stub