Thomas Brown (abt. 1764)

Born about 1764 in England [uncertain]

Husband of Elizabeth (Barber) Brown — married 17 Feb 1788 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Heather Stevens [send private message]

Biography

Thomas Brown was a convict on the First Fleet.

Thomas or John Brown seems to have been the man indicted as "John Brown" who was sentenced on 10th September 1783 at the Old Bailey for theft of a tortoiseshell snuff box, value 5d. John Brown, who said he worked for a nurseryman at Barnet, claimed to have been kicked and abused by his captors.^[1] The Old Bailey trial can be seen here. ^[2]

As John, he was delivered from the Censor hulk to Scarborough at Portsmouth on 27th February 1787. He had been aged 20 in July 1785 when on Censor. The Scarborough was part of the First Fleet which arrived at Port Jackson, New South Wales on 26 January 1788.^[1]

At Port Jackson he appeared in the victualling list of 1788 as John Brown.^[1]

He married Elizabeth Barber on 17 February 1788 at Sydney Cove, both signing the register, he signing as Thos Brown. They were married by Richard Johnson, Chaplain, and witnesses were James Branagan, and Samuel Barnes.^[3][4]

A son Thomas was baptised on 23 November, and died on 5th of April 1789. A second son, David, born on 29th January 1790, died the next day. A daughter Elizabeth was baptised on 19th June 1791, and in December 1791 mother and child were living with Thomas Brown on his farm near Parramatta. ^[1]

In August 1792 John Brown was settled on land at the Northern Boundary near Parramatta as were Simon Burn and William Moulds. Watkin Tench visited the area on 6th December 1791, reporting that: Thomas Brown with a wife and child held 60 acres and farmed another 60 in partnership with William Bradbury and William Mold(sic). A week before Tench's visit Bradbury had absconded. William Moulds(sic) and John(sic) Brown were granted 30 and 60 acres respectively on 22 February 1792. Both grants were marked cancelled and regranted. The new grantees appear on a return of land cultivated at the Northern Boundary farms dated 16th October 1792.^[1]

Mould, Brown and his wife all disappear from later records. ^[1]

Research Notes

There has been confusion with another Thomas Brown who was on the First Fleet on the Charlotte. For example, this profile had: "Thomas (or John) Brown was tried at Exeter, Devon on 29 October 1783 for stealing silverware. He was sentenced to transportation for 7 years and left England on the Charlotte aged about 25 at that time (May 1787)".^[5] This is incorrect in two ways: (1) It's a different man (2) This different man was tried firstly in London for the theft, then at Exeter for mutiny from the the Mercury transport.

Mollie Gillen has written about the difficulties in researching him:^[1]

"Confusions between the first names Thomas and John and the Middlesex and London sessions in both the contractors list and the orders in council had created the difficulty."

"It becomes difficult to separate the John Browns after mid 1790 when two more came with the Second Fleet."

"The alternative usage of the names John and Thomas suggests that the Northern Boundary grantee was the First Fleeter"

"The “Thomas also John Brown” holding a conditional pardon at Port Jackson in 1801 was almost certainly the Thomas alias John Brown per Albermarle 1791 who had arrived with a life sentence."

Death of Thomas Brown?

• He is unlikely to have been the Thomas Brown buried at Parramatta on 28 January 1792, because the burial register noted he was a convict, whereas Thomas Brown per Scarborough was free after his 7 year sentence was up in 1790, and was recorded as farming in 1792.
• The BDA also notes: "Against duplicate entry under John Brown [4/4003 - p50] was listed death details - 24 May 1821 Sydney aged 80; probably relates to another John Brown."

Trial date in the Indent: Tried Middlesex session "9 Oct 1782" 7yrs [SZ115] - this is incorrect re Mollie Gillen's 'The Founders of Australia': Gillen notes original conviction 29 Oct 1783 later conviction 24 May 1784.^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6} Gillen, Mollie, The Founders of Australia : A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet, 1989, p.54.
2. ↑ Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 8.0, 14 August 2023), September 1783, trial of JOHN BROWN (t17830910-86). https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?id=t17830910-86-defend971&div=t17830910-86#highlight
3. ↑ St Philip's Church of England, Sydney NSW: Church Register - Marriages; State Library of NSW ref: Reel SAG 90
4. ↑ NSW Government. Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages. Thomas Browne, and Elizabeth Barber, Marriage. Registration number: 22/1788 Vol 4, District: Sydney, St Phillip's. Accessed 25 Apr 2021. Marriages search page
5. ↑ Sourced from http://firstfleet.uow.edu.au/details.aspx?-db=ff.fp3&-format=detail.htm&-op=cn&-recid=91&-find= which is incorrect
6. ↑ New South Wales, Australia, Convict Indents, 1788-1842 for Thomas Brown: List of Convict Transports 1788-1790 (First Fleet and part of Second Fleet) Ancestry.com sharing link

• Biographical report for Thomas BROWN Person ID: B#10011008201 Biographical Database of Australia (BDA)