Robert Brooks

Robert Brooks (1790 – 5 June 1882) was a British Conservative Party politician, businessman and trader.

Family Born in Laceby, Lincolnshire—and baptised there at St Mary's Church on 5 April 1791—Brooks was the son of yeoman farmer William Brooks and Ann Ostler. In 1833, he married Hannah, daughter of wine merchant Joshua Penny, and they had five sons—including Robert Alexander, Henry and Herbert—and three daughters. Between the 1830s and 1870s, he became one of the leaders of trade between Britain and Australia, with some connection found between his own career—involving exporting, importing, shipping, finance, banking, and political lobbying including promoting assisted emigration—and the development of the colonial Australian economy.

In 1820, he established his own London-based firm and, in 1823, he made his first and only trade voyage to Australia, travelling aboard the Elizabeth, now his ship, to Hobart and Sydney. During the 1830s, he established business connections in eastern Australia and New Zealand, including Robert Campbell junior, John Rickards, and Raine and Ramsay, and became one of the largest importers of Australian wool.

During his commercial ventures, he built a 12-ship fleet of Australian whaling vessels that made 35 voyages from Sydney between 1832 and 1860. In the 1850s, his interest in shipping diminished, and new investments in ships tended to be in those directed by business associates. Instead, he focused on financing the wool trade and other Australian ventures including gold mining.