Thomas Ledlie Crooke, "Commodore Crooke," was born in 1793 in Port Arlington, Queens County, Ireland (just north of Cork.)
He joined the Royal Navy on December 10, 1806, a traditional career move for third-born sons in Britain. During the War of 1812, he joined the Lake Ontario squadron under Admiral James Lucas Yeo on board the Prince Regent and then on the St. Lawrence. After the war ended, he was "beached," (laid off but received a military pension with the understanding that he could be called back to work at any time).
In 1832 he was given a military land grant for 247.5 acres along the Lake Huron shore. He set sail from Ireland as a thirty-eight-year-old bachelor with his nineteen-year-old nephew Samuel Cantwell "Canty" Hill and landed in Port Sarnia on August 1, 1834.
Crooke envisioned building a grand stone house but hauling blocks of stone up the banks from boats on the lake proved to be an overwhelming task. After a stone foundation 43 feet long, 39 feet wide and 4 feet deep was built, Crooke opted to use the clay on his property and baked over 83,000 red clay bricks to complete the Moorings. The structure was intentionally built as strong as a fortress, strong enough to withstand a cannon ball if the Americans ever tried to invade Canada again.
Some of the most interesting features of the home's interior included an immense fireplace in the living room, a solid walnut banister along the stairway, and a huge door-lock with a brass key six inches in length. Overnight accommodations for up to nineteen people were readily available. According to records of the Hillsboro Cemetery, "[Crooke] enjoyed entertaining and felt insulted if a guest left before staying a week."
Crooke died November 25, 1864. He is buried in the Hillsboro Cemetery, which was established on land close to his home that he donated to the St. George Anglican Church in 1852.
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