Henry Brougham (landowner)
Henry Brougham of Brougham Hall, FRSE (1742-1810) was an important landowner in north-west England. He owned huge tracts of land in Westmorland. Two of his sons were created Barons. In later years he was an advocate in Scotland. In 1802 he founded the Edinburgh Review (some sources wrongly cite his son Henry as founder).
Life
He was born on 18 June 1742, the son of Henry Brougham (d.1782), Steward to the Duke of Norfolk, and Mary Freeman (1714-1807). His younger brother was Rev John Brougham FRSE (1748-1811).[1] He was born at Scales Hall in Cumbria. The family moved to Brougham Hall in 1756.[2]
He was educated at Eton college. He then trained as a lawyer at Gray’s Inn in London from 1765.[3]
Following marriage he moved to Edinburgh, living on the north side of St Andrew Square, at no.21, in what was then, a brand new Georgian townhouse. Here he became part of the Scottish legal landscape.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1784, one of his proposers being his father-in-law, William Robertson.
In 1802 he was a co-founder of the revitalised Edinburgh Review.[4]
He died on 13 February 1810 in Edinburgh and is buried in Restalrig Churchyard on the east side of the city.
Family and Private Life
He married Eleanor Syme in 1777. She was daughter of the Rev James Syme and the niece of William Robertson FRSE. They had six children, one daughter and five sons.[5]
Their eldest son was Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux (1778-1868). Their youngest son, William (1795-1886) succeeded to the baronetcy in 1868, all other sons being dead by that date.