THE BROME-WALTON FAMILY. 
451 
CHARLES BROME. 
In Chapter IY. we left this XVII. and XVIII. century gunner return¬ 
ing, on 1st September, 1755, to Halifax, after his siege and capture of 
Beau-Sej our (Fort Cumberland), to resume in peace and honour, with¬ 
out promotion or reward, the functions of artillery Commandant in 
Nova Scotia, undisturbed until the invasion of the “Royal Province” 
in the summer of 1757. 
This invasion was by the conjoint naval and military expeditionary 
forces destined against Louisbourg, but shut up in Nova Scotia, for the 
season, by the superiority of the French fleet. The arrival of the 
Expedition was fraught both with pleasure and pain to Captain Brome. 
Proud must this grand old warrior have been to see his grandson— 
Lieut. Joseph Walton , R.A. (Chapter IV.), sound in mind and body, 
arrive in command of H.M. Bomb-ship, the “ Furnace ”—a command 
regarded at this time as the most dangerous, yet most coveted. On 
the other hand, the land forces included a Lieut.-Colonel R.A. (Wil¬ 
liamson), with some companies of artillery ; Captain Brome was 
consequently displaced from his Commandantship and relegated to the 
minor charge of a detached fort. The Board of Ordnance, however, 
with that kindly consideration towards its sons which this autocratic 
parent occasionally manifested, gave Captain Brome the option of 
returning to Woolwicb—of which he availed himself in December, 
1757, having buried 20 men of his brigade of 100 during his com¬ 
mand j 1 2 and at Woolwich we find him actively employed as President 
of Courts Martial, Inspector of Drills, Captain of the Day, &c., until 
the autumn of 1759 heralded the glories of Minden and the death of 
his son, his only son, Lieut. Robert Brome (Chapter V.). 
The crushing blow appears to have bent the head and broken the 
spirit of the brave old soldier, who, however, manfully stood to his 
guns until 20th November, when his turn came for promotion to a 
vacant regimental Majority abroad. Alone, as a widower, bereaved of 
his son, and his only daughter married. Captain Charles Brome declined 
the promotion (which fell to Captain John Godwin), and obtained 12 
months sick leave pending retirement 3 —most probably ending his 
days in the Gun House at St. Jameses Park, the official residence at 
the time of his step-son Lieut.-Colonel Joseph Brome , the Master 
Gunner of England and A. de C. to the Commander-in-Chief of the 
Army in Germany, as be cannot be traced in the Ordnance Quarter 
Books after 1762. 
The Royal Warrant, of 13th July, 1761, authorising Captain Brome* s 
retirement, on Full Pay, “ after 63 years of continuous service,” will 
be found in Appendix A. Who knows anything of the subject of the 
origin and evolution of Retired Pay and Pensions , to officers, soldiers, 
1 “ To Capt. C. Brome, R.A., for burying 20 of bis men in iSToya Scotia, £17 ”—vide “ Orders 
to Paymasters,” December, 1757. These men had mostly been tomahawked by the Indians (the 
Merrimacs). 
2 Up to February, 1761, Capt. Brome signed the monthly 1Rolls of his new company, dated at 
Gibraltar ; but the Pay Lists explain that Antonio Forman remitted his pay to him in England. 
