Peter Brooke was born in 1722, the son of Peter Brooke of Mere, and his wife Frances, daughter and heiress of Francis Hollinshed of Wheelock, Cheshire. In 1766 he was Sheriff of Cheshire. He married twice, firstly Meriel, daughter of Fleetwood Legh, of Lyme Hall, and secondly Elizabeth, daughter of Jonas Langford of Theobalds and Antigua. They had three sons and three daughters. Their second son Jonas made the Grand Tour in 1783-4 and bought in Italy part of the collection before he died in Milan on his return journey.

Peter Brooke's father was Sheriff of Cheshire in 1728, the year this portrait was painted