Thomas Brock was born in early 1728 at Tarvin, the child of Mr Richard Brock, a cheesefactor, and Mary (Tomkinson), born just a few months after his parent’s marriage.
Thomas was particularly close with his mother’s family, the Tomkinsons, especially after his father’s death in 1743, and he became a solicitor like his uncles and cousins.
In 1756 he was admitted to the Freedom of the City of Chester and became the town clerk, a position he held until his death.
Through his Tomkinson connections, a number who were legal men for the Duke of Bridgewater, he became acquainted with Preston Brook, and in late 1768, with the Bridgewater canal bearing down on the village, he purchased the manor of Preston Brook from Mr Fulke Greville, kinsman of the Earl of Warwick, poet, celebrity and gambling addict.
Thomas immediately set about preparing the village for the incoming canal, knocking down many of the medieval cottages and replacing them with modern properties with attached workshop space, building the windmill, a coaching inn (The Red Lion), his own warehouse (the Stafford Warehouse) and a number of fine to-let residences (including Brook House).
This being such a successful venture, Thomas purchased the manors of Hockenhull and Christleton, on what would become the line of the Chester canal.
Thomas married Elizabeth Holland of Wigan in 1747, and while the marriage appears to have been reasonably happy it was ultimately childless, and made his nephews by his sister, Mary (Yates), his heirs.
Thomas died on the 4th Aug 1785, and was buried on the 9th August at Davenham
