[Illustration] Adam Lord of Leighton, in the reign of Henry III., is
the first recorded ancestor of this family, who continued at
Leighton, the seat of the principal branch of the Brookes, until the
extinction of the elder male line, in or about the year 1632.
Richard Brooke, younger son of Thomas Brooke of Leighton, purchased
Norton from King Henry VIII. in the year 1545, which has remained
the residence of his heirs male.
Younger branches: Broke of Nacton in the county of Suffolk, Baronet
1813; descended from Sir Richard Brooke, Knight, Chief Baron of the
Exchequer, in the reign of Henry VIII., youngest son of Thomas
Brooke of Leighton, the ancestor of the Norton family. There was a
former baronetcy in this family, created 1661, extinct 1693. Brooke
of Mere in this county, sprung from Sir Peter Brooke, third son of
Thomas Brooke of Norton, established at Mere by purchase in 1632.
See Ormerod, i. 360, 500; and iii. 241; Collectanea Topographica et
Genealogica, i. 22; and Wotton's Baronetage, iii. 392.
ARMS.--_Or, a cross engrailed party per pale gules and sable_.
Present Representative, Sir Richard Brooke, 7th Baronet.
+Gentle.+