Brown Family Papers

Journals, diaries, scrapbooks, photographs, drawings and photocopies of 6 letters relating to the international travels of various members of the Brown family.

Joseph Brown senior (1764-1847) was a merchant of London (Sculthorpe & Brown Ltd.), also a member of the Levant Company. Lived in both Constantinople and Naples at various times. Died in London.

Ann Cox Brown (1807-1893) was the daughter of Joseph Brown senior and sister of Joseph Brown junior. She was in the Constantinople area on three occasions. Escorted two younger ladies out via the Rhine and Danube in 1836, and seems to have returned to England in 1837. Letters were sent to her in Turkey between 1841 and 1847 when she was in some employment (governess?) with the Hanson family. In 1853 she was going out to join the Hansons again. Later lived and died in London.

Joseph Brown junior (1802-1874)

1802: Born in London

1816: Apprenticed to a London merchant, Edward Newcombe, for seven years

1822: Started work for the Levant Company, of which his father was a member. Lived in Turkey and Naples until the company failed in 1825

1826: He went to Colombia, South America. Lived in Bogota for most of the time, may also have lived in Cartagena. Was presumably a merchant at this time

c1841: Decided to return to England, working in London. He turned to banking at this time, and certainly worked for a counting house in Austin Friars

1852: Sailed for Australia with four others. He was to set up the Melbourne office of a gold company, one of the other being in charge of the mine (the company was financed by London businessmen). They went out via the Mediterranean, then overland to the Red Sea and on to Singapore. There they had to find a sailing boat to take them to Port Phillip. This was an unusual route and took them four months. He was probably in Melbourne for about a year

1853: Was working in London and the Continent, judging from old passports

1862: Married. A son was born in 1863, a daughter in 1864

1866: Sailed for Lima, Peru, where he was a Bank Manager. Died in England at Morden College, Blackheath, where he lived after his wife's death.

Open

The papers are available subject to the usual conditions of access to Archives and Manuscripts material, after the completion of a Reader's Undertaking.

These papers were given to the Library in May 1984 by Miss F E Hunter, the grand-daughter of Joseph Brown, junior.

A list is available on the online catalogue

The family papers also include diaries of voyages and letters written on voyages, which Miss Hunter deposited in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, and letters written from Australia, which are in the Department of History, Melbourne University. Pictures connected with the family have been given to the Royal Geographical Society. Joseph junior's indenture papers and papers relating to the Levant Company have been given to the Merchant Taylor's Company. Papers relating to Joseph junior's son have been given to Christ's Hospital School, Horsham.