BROWN, Nicholas John

1838 - 1903  (64 years)

• Name	BROWN, Nicholas John  [1]
  Born	9 Oct 1838	Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
  Gender	Male
  Died	22 Sep 1903	Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
  Person ID	I10454	My Genealogy
  Last Modified	16 Sep 2023

  
  

  Father	BROWN, Richard,   b. 31 Jul 1798, Cork, Cork, Ireland ,   d. 7 Dec 1873, Kangaroo Point, Tasmania, Australia  (Age 75 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Mother	SKUSE, Margery,   b. 4 Oct 1802, Cork, Ireland ,   d. 11 May 1871, Kangaroo Point, Tasmania, Australia  (Age 68 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Married	22 Aug 1826	Cork, Cork, Ireland   [2, 3]
  	St Annes Shandon Church
  Family ID	F3384	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	NICHOLAS, Ellen,   b. 12 Aug 1845,   d. 12 Aug 1938, Hobart, Tasmania Australia  (Age 93 years)
  Married	21 Sep 1870	Ouse Bridge, Tasmania, Australia
  Last Modified	16 Sep 2023
  Family ID	F2801	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos		Nicholas John Brown 1898
  		nicholas j brown

  
  

• Notes

  Brown, Nicholas John (1838–1903) by Gordon Rimmer This article was published in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 3, (MUP), 1969 Nicholas John Brown (1838-1903), pastoralist, mining agent and politician, was born on 9 October 1838 in Hobart Town, the eldest son of Richard Brown, cooper, who arrived in Tasmania in 1833 and became a storekeeper in Hobart. Nicholas was educated at St Andrews and Hutchins Schools, and in 1852 became a farm worker in the Richmond district. He spent 1857 on a cattle station in Victoria and returned to manage his brother-in-law's property at Richmond and then Philip Smith's Syndal estate at Ross. After his marriage in 1870 to Ellen, the daughter of Henric Nicholas, a landowner in the Ouse district, Brown rented and later bought Meadow Bank at Hamilton and also bought the Macclesfield property near Lake Echo. He retained his interests in pastoral farming until 1891. Brown was elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly in 1875 as the member for Cumberland and was returned unopposed in the next four elections. From 1877-78 and again from 1882-87 he was minister for lands and works in five ministries at a salary of £700 and then £900. As minister he secured the passage of Mining Acts in 1883 and 1884 dealing with licences, leases and miners' rights, created the position of secretary of mines, and secured the adoption of a Railway Act in 1883. After defeating an opponent in the 1891 election Brown was chosen Speaker of the assembly, and at the same time started business in Hobart as an agent and attorney for many West Coast mining companies. In a poll on 19 December 1893 Brown was defeated by a Zeehan solicitor who carried the growing Zeehan vote at a time when the division of the Cumberland electorate was awaiting royal assent. Because of irregularities at the Zeehan poll the result was challenged and in February 1894 the Supreme Court declared the election void. The electorate was divided before new elections were held and Brown was returned unopposed for Cumberland. In 1897 he was narrowly reelected Speaker and again but more easily in 1900 and 1903. He was a 'large, florid, massive man', referred to as 'Buffalo Brown'. As Speaker he was very capable and dignified; as a politician he was considered sound and made few enemies. He helped to obtain numerous roads, ferries and services for the booming West Coast mining district, and in many ways was typical of the new breed of native sons who believed in a bright future for Tasmania. From the 1880s Brown was one of the main supporters of Federation in Tasmania. In 1884 his Town Hall lecture, Federation of the Colonies, was published and followed by another on the same topic to the Mechanics' Institute next year. In 1896 his lecture to the Bellerive Literary and Debating Society was published and in 1900 he produced a pamphlet on Federal Finance. The premier appointed Brown one of Tasmania's representatives to the Federal Council in 1886, a position which he had to resign in 1887 but held again in 1892-94. In October 1890 Brown was appointed one of the House of Assembly's delegates to the first Federal Convention in 1891 and was elected to attend the later ones in 1897-98. His support for Federation was based not so much on its commercial advantages as on a vision of national destiny within the empire. As a member of the Southern Tasmanian Federal League he sought to gain acceptance of the Commonwealth bill by Tasmanian electors. In 1900-03 Brown was recommended at least four times for a knighthood in recognition of his political services; the Colonial Office thought him worthy but delayed action because of the new federal system. He played a leading role in local affairs as a member of the University Council from its inception in 1890, trustee of the Museum and Art Gallery, magistrate, president of the Southern Tasmanian Agricultural and Pastoral Society, and as a director of the Australian Mutual Provident Society in Hobart. He died without issue on 22 September 1903. Select Bibliography J. Fenton, A History of Tasmania (Hob, 1884) Tasmanian Cyclopedia, vol 1 (Hob, 1900) University of Tasmania, Report on the Historical Manuscripts of Tasmania (Hob, 1964) Mercury (Hobart), 22 Jan 1875, 31 May 1884, 5 Mar 1890, 25, 28, 30 Dec 1893, 15 Feb 1894, 3 June 1898, 23 Sept 1903 Examiner (Launceston), 19 Oct, 20 Dec 1893, 29 Jan, 15, 19 Feb, 3 Mar 1894, 23 Sept 1903 Weekly Courier (Launceston), 26 Sept 1903 GO 27/1 (Archives Office of Tasmania). KNOW TASMANIA ELLENDALE.   EARLY HISTORY NOTES. (By Our Travelling Correspondent.) From J. Moore-Robinson's ' "Tasmanian Nomenclature" regarding the origin of the name Ellendale:-"Mr. Thomas Stephens writes: 'Before the proclamation of the township reserve the valley of the Jones River was generally known by the name of Monto's Marsh. There were a few settlers occupying small selections of Crown land. Mr. Nicholas Brown, then Minister for Lands, occupied Meadow Bank as his country residence.' While on a tour from Hobart to Hamilton I visited him there, and he arranged that we should ride over to Monto's Marsh, where, he wished to select a good position for a township reserve, in which I could also note a suitable site for a future school. On our return to Meadow Bank the question arose of a name for the future township, and my suggestion that it should be known by the Christian name of Mrs. Nicholas Brown was eventually adopted.' "Ida Gilbert writes: 'What was originally Monto's Marsh was named Ellendale, after Mrs. Nicholas J. Brown, wife of the late Hon. N. J. Brown, who was a former Speaker of the House of Assembly, and representative of the district. Mrs. Brown still (1911) takes an interest in her namesake, and residents revere the memory of her husband, who did so much for Ellendale, during its early struggles for improvement and   recognition.' " From the "Daily Post'' of June 11, 1908:-"There passed peacefully away yesterday morning Ellendale's oldest and mos.t respected resident. Mr. James Clark, sen., of Rockmount, at the grand old age of 100 years and five months. He celebrated his 100th birthday last Christmas Day. His wife predeceased him by 10 years, atthe age of 70 years. They had spent 64 years of their life to- gether. Deceased had won the respect of all with whom he came in contact by his hospitable and peaceful disposition. His family numbered 16, 15 of whom are now living -nine sons and six - daughters. His living descendants number 148. Eight of his sons are settled in Ellendale, and are all owners of nice farms. His eldest son, Mr. James Clark, is the proprietor of Athlone. "Deceased was the first settler in Ellendale. He died at his home, Rockmount, where he had spent 54 years of his life. " He remembered Hobart when it had only three thatched huts, in one of which he lived with the people by whom he had been reared, he having lost his parents in his infancy. He had a small garden where Welch's Corner is now. He well knew the two blacks, Mosquito and Black Jack, and saw them the day they commenced their plundering. "In the days of the bushrangers he lost his bedding as often at 13 times in one year, and at last took to sleeping in wool bags. Deceased is said to have been the first native-born Tasmanian.   A most interesting book could have been written of his reminiscences. Mrs James Clark, of Athlone, attended with great kindness the old Tasmanian-born during his last days. Rockmount is about three miles from Ellendale town ship, and Mrs. Clark repeatedly visited there to attend deceased. He was a very hard-working- man, and continued his labours up till shortly prior to his demise." Mrs. Clark, mentioned above, has re cently retired from the management of the well-known Ellendale private board ing establishment, Athlone, where for very many years she so admirably cat ered for tourists and travellers alike making it a veritable home from home. A glance through the Athlone visitors' book reveals how deeply she enshrined herself in the hearts of all, who wish her the complete enjoyment of a well-earned rest. "A spirit of true friendliness pervades the place. Ellendale itself is full of loveliness and poetical, beauty to the seeing eye, and the healing power of its graceful trees gives restoration to jaded and weary wayfarers." Thus, a lady visitor this year wrote of Ellendale, distant 50 miles from Hobart, and the centre of a rich hop and small fruit- growing district, and of pastoral and mixed farming areas, well watered. "Home of the forest's heart, How beautiful thou art! How wonderful and free thy hills and vale, How peaceful and serene! The hop-fields, blooming green, Sleep in the lovely heart of Ellendale."

  
  

• Sources

  [S308] Ancestry Family Trees, (Name: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.;;), Ancestry Family Tree. [S309] Public Member Trees, Ancestry.com, (Name: Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.;;), Database online. Record for Margary Skuse http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=103289043&pid=12163 [S183] Irish Records Extraction Database, Platt, Lyman, (Name: Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 1999;;).