Governor of Virginia, Lawyer. Born in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, to Richard and Ann Taliaferro Brooke. The second son of four children. He was educated at Edinburgh University in Scotland. He joined Captain Larkin Smith's company of cavalry, and was captured by the British at Westham. After the war, he returned to Spotsylvania County, Virginia and began to practice law, later moving that practice to Fredericksburg. In 1766 he married Mary Ritchie Hopper and settled on an estate that would later be known as "Federal Hill". Robert would represent Spotsylvania County in the House of Delegates from 1791 to 1794. In 1794 Virginia Governor Henry Lee left office to command the Federal Army at the Whiskey Rebellion. In November of that year the assembly elected Robert Brooke to replace Henry Lee as Governor of Virginia. Robert was elected a second, one year term in 1795. Following his second term as Governor, he was elected to replace James Innes as Attorney General of Virginia in 1796, he would serve this position until his death. Robert was a Freemason in Virginia, from 1795 to 1797 and in November 1795 succeeded John Marshall as Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Virginia. The county of Brooke, formed from Ohio county Va., now in West Virginia is called, Brooke County, West Virginia, and was named in his honor. During the Civil War, his beloved estate was used as a field hospital by the Army of the Potomac. Confederate Major General Thomas R. R. Cobb, was killed defending the Sunken Road at the battle of Fredericksburg in December, 1862. The shot that killed him is said to have been fired from a cannon located at Federal Hill. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.