He was born at Great Harwood, near Whalley, Lancashire, England, the second son of William Brooks.
Around 1819 his father set up Samuel and his two brothers as junior partners in three separate firms of calico printers in Manchester.
[5][6] Initially the M&LR placed its Manchester terminus at Oldham Road but they had a firm plan to establish a station more centrally.
He went on to pledge that the company would not be prejudiced by his holding the land, and that he had offers in hand but would not sell until he knew the board's intentions.
The board gratefully accepted this offer,[6] and thus the company were able to build Manchester Victoria station a few years later.
[2] In 1856, Samuel bought a large area of land in North Cheshire from the Earl of Stamford and made further purchases later.
He offered an acre of land for £200, and guaranteed to pay the company £300 if annual receipts had not reached £100 after five years.
Since World War II, development has been restricted by planning laws and some of the road still passes through greenbelt agricultural land.