Silkstone Parish

HIGHFIELD, or Field Head, a farm-house in the township of Thurgoland, and parish of Silkstone, 3 miles from Penistone.

Of this place was John Charles Brooke, late Somerset herald. He was born in 1748, and put apprentice to Mr. James Kirkby, a chemist, in Bartletts Buildings, London; but discovering a strong turn to Heraldic pursuits, and having, by a pedigree of the Howard family, which he drew, attracted the notice of the then Duke of Norfolk, he procured him a place in the College of Arms, by the title of Rouge Croix Pursuivant, in 1775, from which, in 1778, he was advanced to that of Somerset Herald. He became Member of the Antiquarian Society in April 1775, and enriched their volumes with some curious papers; particularly the illustrations of a Saxon inscription in Kirkdale Church; and another in Aldborough Church, both in this county. On Feb. 3, 1794, he was suffocated with his friend Mr. Pingo, of York, and many other persons, in attempting to get into the Pit at the little Theatre, Haymarket. --Gen. Biog. Dict. --Gents. Mag. vol. LXIV.