Brooks family

George Brooks was a barrister and banker in London. After he married Anne he continued to live there and let Flitwick Manor to tenants. Robert Trevor was a very significant tenant as it was he who instigated the significant changes to the manor between 1793 and 1808. He agreed with George Brooks to pay half of the costs.^[4] In 1816 George's son John Thomas Brooks (1794–1858) was given Flitwick Manor on his marriage to Mary Hatfield. This couple lived there for the rest of their lives, and made extensive improvements. The grounds were praised by the landscape architect John Claudius Loudon in the 1820s and 1830s, especially the arboretum, planted in a "natural arrangement".^[5]

John Thomas Brooks wrote several diaries which give a picture of life at Flitwick Manor. The most important event in these diaries seems to be the death of his only daughter, Mary Ann Brooks (1822–1848), who died aged 26, in 1848. He was particularly fond of his garden and made major improvements to the grounds.^[6] When he died in 1858, his eldest son John Hatfield Brooks (1824–1907) inherited the manor.

Major John Hatfield Brooks was educated in Rugby, Warwickshire and later became an officer in the 1st Bengal Light Cavalry. He served over in British India. It was in Calcutta that he married Sophia Margaret Cloete in 1850. The couple had two daughters. When John died in 1907, his eldest daughter Catherine Mary Frances Brooks (1853–1934) inherited the house.^[7] Catherine did not marry and lived in the house until she died at the age of 81 in 1934. Her obituary outlined her work in the village of Flitwick and praised her generosity. When she died she had no heirs so she left the property to her cousin Robert Adolphus Lyall (1876–1948).^[8] When he died in 1948 it was left to John Comyn Lyall. He advertised it for sale in 1953.

Later history

After being advertised for sale, Flitwick Manor was bought by Anthony Gilkison, a film director, who lived there until the early 1970s, when it was purchased by The Saxby Family.^[9] The manor stayed in private hands until 1984, when it was converted to a restaurant. This was sold in 1990 and the manor is now a hotel, operated by Best Western.^[10] In 2009, the main park including the arboretum and two adjoining fields to the south of the property were acquired by Flitwick Town Council to preserve it for the community. Access to the public is available during daylight hours. Disabled parking is available at the main entrance to the park on the corner of Dunstable Road and Church Road ^[11]

Reputed haunting

Flitwick Manor is reputedly haunted, and these stories have sometimes been used for publicity since it became a hotel.^{[12][13][14][15][16]} The manor was featured in the episode "The Jim Twins/Flitwick Ghost" of the television series Strange but True? in 1995.^[13][17]