Notes |
- Henry Hooke, second Lord of the Manor of Bramshott, was a very energetic member of the old family. He developed a local iron industry, using water power to avoid the laws against use of wood fuel, and made a great success of it. It operated for many years and served as an important link in the growth of the great iron and steel industry in England.
During the Cromwellian period and after, the Hookes of Bramshott, Surrey, Buckingham, Middlesex, Kent and Berkshire, engaged in paper making on a large scale. For many years they made the water marked paper used in the paper bank note currency issued by the Bank of England. Mills were erected at Flints near Hawarden Castle in North Wales and in Surrey and the south of England. The industry remained in the Hooke family for many years. The mills at Flints are still in operation under the management of William Pitt and Company, first cousins of the Hookes. The mills of South England finally drifted out of the family control, due largely to the extravagant tastes of some of the early family who squandered their estates in ridiculous fashion. [1]
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