Sir Basil Brooke

Grandson of Sir Robert Brooke (Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice of Common Pleas), Sir Basil Brooke was born at Madeley Court in 1576. He was a metallurgist, farmer, industrialist and one of the leading Roman Catholics of his day. He inherited the manor of Madeley from his father, John Brooke. The estate contained coal mines, and Sir Basil is credited with developing the 'Shropshire Longwall' method for extracting coal, which has been used in mines all over the world.

He obtained a patent for making steel around 1615, which led to his building a steel cementation furnace on his Madeley Estate (at modern day Coalbrookdale). This furnace was the first of its kind in England; the remains of which has recently been excavated.

His iron making interests saw him take over furnaces of the King's ironworks in the Forest of Dean, but his lease was suspended for illegal felling in 1618. Later reinstated, he took over all four furnaces of the King's works, but lost the lease in 1633 when it was claimed that his activities were having a disastrous effect on the Forest, for which he was heavily fined. By 1622, he had his own thriving ironworks at Madeley as well as his forges at the mouth of the River Perry and at Shelsley Walsh.

Sir Basil Brooke was also a leading Roman Catholic, said to have personal contact with both James I and Charles I. During the Bishops Wars of 1639-40 he was treasurer for contributions collected from English Catholics. In 1641, he fled to York after being summoned by the House of Commons accused of recusancy, but was arrested at York and imprisoned in Newgate Jail. On the 6th January 1644 he was imprisoned in the Tower of London having been implicated (through his correspondence) in a plot against Parliament to prevent the Scottish army taking part in the English Civil War. His Madeley estate was sequestrated in 1645, and he died on the 31st December 1646 leaving debts of £10,000. His wife was Etheldreda Brudenell, daughter of Sir Edmund Brudenell, and it was their son Thomas (himself impeached for treason against Parliament) who later recovered his estate, which remained in the family until 1727.