Samuel Brooks

Who was Samuel Brooks?

Samuel Brooks was an English cotton manufacturer and banker.

He 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 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 and Brooklands.