67 
amount of building he had done, and it was his grandson— 
Thomas Parker—who, in 1602, purchased both Nether and Over 
Browsholme from the Crown.” 
‘‘ Browsholme stands embowered in trees, a noble house of 
three storeys, built of red sandstone, of a style in accord with 
Elizabethan or Jacobean times, though we miss the central porch, 
usually found in such buildings, between the two projecting 
wings. Beyond the addition of three rooms, no alterations were 
made at Browsholme between 1591 and 1634. The myth that 
the house was rebuilt in 1602—according to some authorities— 
may therefore be discarded. Its restoration—probably by the 
same architect as that of Stoneyhurst—is believed by its present 
owner to have been toward the end of the reign of Queen 
Elizabeth, and he points out that the same facade, under slightly 
different treatment, is introduced in each case ; indeed, there are 
very few Elizabethan buildings of any size into which these 
columns are not introduced.” 
The Lecturer then proceeded to give particulars and details of 
the mansion, referring to its architectural features, and describing 
the rooms in the interior, with their numerous interesting relics 
and family portraits—not forgetting the library ; interspersing 
his remarks with many episodes and reminiscences of the 
*« Parker Family,’—truly a succinct history of a family in every 
way worthy of his subject. He concluded his lecture as 
follows :— 
“Though essentially in origin a Forest family, used to out- 
door life, officially in contact with rural pursuits and the pleasures 
of the chase, planting trees according to the true principles of 
Forestry, cultivating their broad acres, and winning over, here 
and there, from time to time, portions of unprofitable moorland 
(thus making useful additions to the arable and pasture meadows of 
their domain), yet, during all these years finding opportunity for 
that higher cultivation, born of the purest tastes, which seeks to 
develope the mind and enlighten the understanding. While 
taking their respective parts in the public duties of their 
generations, filling—as representatives of the family ever did— 
posts in the ‘Church,’ ‘ Army,’ and ‘ Law,’ the love of the 
Parkers for Literature, Science and Art has led them to make 
their ancestral seat at Browsholme a rich depository of intellectual 
treasure, and so it still remains in these opening years of the 
Twentieth Century.” 
