Astley Hall

By order of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth I, landed families in Lancashire and Cheshire were visited  during 1567  by Norroy King of Arms William Flower accompanied by Robert Glover, Portcullis Pursuivant.  They were visited again  in 1613  during the reign of James I by Richard St George.   Their task was  confirming the genealogy of the families to support their right to bear coats of arms.  In the words of the time the visit was to "correcte, cumptrolle and refourme all mann' of armes, crests, cognizaunces and devices unlawfull or unlawfully usurped, borne or taken by any p'son or p'sons.  They were authorised to pull down or deface arms that were displayed without the authority of the Crown or belonged to another family. Timothy Duke Norroy and Ulster King of Arms Today the position of Norroy, now Norroy and Ulster King of Arms is filled by Timothy Duke and  families to the South of the River Trent are the responsibility of Clarenceux King of Arms.

Susanna Brooke inherited the Astley estates on the death of brother, Peter, in 1767, O.S.P - O bit Sine Prole , or died without issue as the legal documents would have put it.   Her great grandmother had been born Margaret Charnock, the last of Charnock’s who had moved to Astley when their old home in Charnock Richard had been ruined by fire in the mid 17th century.   Thomas Townley Parker and Susanna Brooke The ladies of the Brooke family were always considered beauties and Susanna soon caught the eye of Thomas Townley Parker of Cuerden. They had three children, including Robert Townley Parker who later moved to Cuerden Hall.  Robert Townley Parker He was Guild Mayor of Preston in 1861 and a prominent Freemason having two masonic lodges named after him in Chorley and Manchester. He was Unionist Member of Parliament for Preston in 1837    Lady de Hoghton Following the death of Susanna’s husband in 1794 she marri