Brome was an apothecary active in civic affairs. In October 1575 he was a collector of the rents of the late Hospital of the Poor Priests in Canterbury, for which he was allowed an annual fee of 20s.; in 1588 he was lieutenant of a special defence force of 200 men; and by 1594 he was responsible for surveying public works in the city. Like his brother, he encountered some local opposition, for the burmote book records that on 14 Sept. 1574 John Dale was accused of speaking evil words to Bartholomew Brome ‘one of this House’.
The date of his death has not been ascertained.1Freemen of Canterbury, ed. Cowper, 12; Reg. St. George, Canterbury, ed. Cowper, 12, 103, 174; Canterbury burmote bks. passim; chamberlains’ accts. 1592-1602; Arch. Cant. xii. 44.