Robert Brooke (c. 1760February 27, 1800) was a Virginia planter, soldier, lawyer, and politician who served as the tenth Governor of Virginia as well as in the Virginia House of Delegates, and as Attorney General of Virginia at the time of his death. Early and family life Robert Brooke was the second son born to the former Anna Hay Taliaferro and her husband, Richard Brooke (1732-1792), at a family plantation (possibly "Smithfield") in Spotsylvania County in the Colony of Virginia. His birth year is uncertain; probably 1751 but possibly near 1760 or even 1761. His grandfather Robert Brooke, a skilled surveyor, had been one of Lt. Governor Alexander Spotswood's "Knights of the Golden Horseshoe Expedition" and the family was influential in nearby Essex County. Brooke had at least three brothers: Dr. Lawrence Brooke, Judge Francis T. Brooke, and John T. Brooke. All became patriots in the American Revolutionary War, and the latter two also served in the Virginia General Assembly. Thus, Brooke was born into the First Families of Virginia and received a private education suitable for his class. He sailed to Scotland for further studies at Edinburgh University. In 1766, Brooke married Mrs. Mary Ritchie Hopper (the Ritchies being another prominent Essex County family) in Tappahannock, Virginia, the Essex county seat. They had several children, including Richard Brooke (1787-1824), who would marry Selina Poe in Richmond and have children. Career As he returned home at the beginning of the revolution, British admiral Howe captured his ship and sent Brooke back to England. He then traveled to Scotland, then France, and reached Virginia in a French vessel carrying arms for the continentals. Brooke joined Captain Larkin Smith's cavalry company, was captured at Westham near Richmond by Simcoe in 1781, was exchanged, and rejoined the army's 7th Continental line. After the war, Brooke read law. On February 7, 1785, he and future U.S. Supreme Court justice Bushrod Washington were admitted to the Virginia bar and began their legal careers in Fredericksburg and surrounding counties. In 1787 Virginia property tax records, Brooke did not live in Essex county but owned nine horses and 51 cattle and enslaved 23 adults and 18 children there. Like his brother John T. Brooke, he owned a house in Fredericksburg (Gustavus Wallace paid tax on both city homes). In that state tax census, their father enslaved 22 adults and 20 children on his Spotsylvania County plantation and