Biography
He was born near Dundee, the son of James Brown and Janet Douglas, and was educated in Scotland. He immigrated to St. Andrews, New Brunswick in 1810. He bought land at nearby Tower Hill in Charlotte County. Brown farmed and taught school. In 1817, he married Sarah Sharman. He ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the provincial assembly in 1827. In 1838, he was named government supervisor for the road between Fredericton and St. Andrews. Brown married Catherine Gillespie (née Cameron) in 1842 after the death of his first wife.
In 1844, Brown, with Sylvester Zobieski Earle and John Gregory, was tasked with preparing a report describing the state of schools in the province. In 1854, he helped prepare another study which resulted in the creation of the University of New Brunswick to replace King's College at Fredericton. Brown was defeated in the 1850 general election but was then named to the province's Legislative Council. He resigned his seat on the council in 1854 and was elected to a seat in the legislative assembly. Brown served on the province's Executive Council as Surveyor General and then was a member of the Board of Works. He resigned in 1856, was reelected in 1857 and again served as Surveyor General.
He was also a minor poet, and cousin of Robert Burns. Some of his writings are housed at the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick.
After Brown was defeated in 1861, he was named an emigrant agent and went to Britain to promote immigration to the province. Brown was opposed to Confederation and ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the assembly in 1864. He died at his home at Tower Hill at the age of 79.
Québec-based writer and artist Simon Brown is his great-great-great-great grandson.
Read more about this topic: James Brown (New Brunswick Politician)
Famous quotes containing the word biography:
“Had Dr. Johnson written his own life, in conformity with the opinion which he has given, that every man’s life may be best written by himself; had he employed in the preservation of his own history, that clearness of narration and elegance of language in which he has embalmed so many eminent persons, the world would probably have had the most perfect example of biography that was ever exhibited.”
—James Boswell (1740–95)
“The death of Irving, which at any other time would have attracted universal attention, having occurred while these things were transpiring, went almost unobserved. I shall have to read of it in the biography of authors.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“There never was a good biography of a good novelist. There couldn’t be. He is too many people, if he’s any good.”
—F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940)