Charles Brown (Taranaki)

Not to be confused with Charles Hunter Brown.

Charles Brown (1820–1901) was a New Zealand politician from the Taranaki area.

Personal life

Brown was born in London, England, the illegitimate son of Charles Armitage Brown (the close friend and biographer of the poet John Keats) and Abigail O'Donohue, an Irish house servant at Wentworth Place where Brown and Keats resided. However, Brown claimed later in life that his parents were married in a Catholic service in Ireland in August 1819, but this claim seems to be discounted by biographers as merely an attempt to cover up his illegitimacy, which was a social stigma in those times.^[1]

At age two, his father took him to Italy where they lived for a number of years, initially in Pisa and later in Florence. Brown received all his early education in Italy from his father. In his writings his father refers to his son by the name "Carlino" and this appeared to be his name in common usage in England and Europe.^[2] In 1826 at age six, Carlino's portrait was painted by artist Joseph Severn, who had nursed John Keats in his final illness and was a close friend of his father.^[3]

Around 1836 in order to provide a better education for Brown, they returned to England and lived in Plymouth. Unlike his literary father, Brown had a more pragmatic nature and was attracted to civil engineering.^[4]

In 1840, his father became a shareholder in the newly formed Plymouth Company, which aimed to colonise New Plymouth, New Zealand. Shortly afterwards, his father's finances were ruined when he was forced to repay a friend's loan having agreed to be guarantor.^[5] With what little fortune remained to him, his father decided that they should immigrate to New Plymouth as a pioneer community would provide the best opportunities for son Charles as a civil engineer given their limited capital.^[5] At age 17, Brown junior immigrated on the Amelia Thompson, the first settler ship of the Plymouth Company arriving in 1841.^[5][6] His father followed on a second ship, arriving three weeks later on the Oriental.^[5][7]

Brown and his father lived on top of a hill near the mouth of Te Henui River, what is now the suburb of Welbourn. The short Brown Street in that area commemorates the family.^[5]

Brown's father died of an apoplectic stroke on 5 June 1842, only 8 months after his arrival in New Plymouth. He was buried on Marsland Hill above the original St Mary's church.^[5]

Charles Brown married twice. He married Margaret Joy Horne on 13 May 1851.^[8] He had 4 daughters (and a son who died as a baby) with his first wife and twin sons and a daughter with his second wife, Jessie Northcroft. His children from his first marriage included:

• Laura Brown (later Mrs Tobin)
• Jessie Brown (later Mrs Brown)^[5]
• Lucy Brown ^[5]

and from his second marriage:

• William A. Brown ^[5]
• Charles Keats Brown
• Mona Martha Brown (later Mrs Gordon Osbourne)^[5]

Professional life

On arrival at New Plymouth, Charles had brought saw-milling equipment with him and quickly set about establishing a successful timber business.

Brown established and owned the newspaper Taranaki News from 1859.^[7]

In 1855, Charles became a member of the militia with the rank of Captain. He served in the Maori Wars, in particular the First Taranaki War and the Second Taranaki War. In 1860, Charles Brown commanded a force of 150 militia and volunteers in a major battle against three or four hundred Maoris at Waireka Hill.^[6] He was promoted to the rank of Major on 7 Nov 1864.^[6][7] He was widely known as "The Major" in his community thereafter (the name Carlino seemed not to have followed him to New Zealand).

Political career

In 1853, the Constitution Act divided the colony into six provinces. Each province had an elected Provincial Council and was governed by a Superintendent. On 16 July 1853 at age 33 years, Charles Brown was elected to be the first Superintendent of the Taranaki Provincial Government.,^[7] from which he resigned on 4 January 1857.^[6] On 24 May 1861, he was again elected as Superintendent, holding that office until 4 September 1865.^[6]

Parliament of New Zealand
Years	Term	Electorate		Party
1855–1856	2nd	Grey and Bell		Independent
1858–1860	2nd	Grey and Bell		Independent
1864–1865	3rd	Town of New Plymouth		Independent
1868–1870	4th	Omata		Independent

He served two separate terms in the 2nd New Zealand Parliament as representative for the Grey and Bell electorate. He was elected at the general election on 8 November 1855, and resigned on 16 August 1856 to (unsuccessfully) contest the superintendency.^[9]

He contested a 17 May 1858 by-election against Dillon Bell in the Grey and Bell electorate. Brown and Bell received 75 and 61 votes, respectively. Brown was thus declared elected.^[10] He resigned in 1860, when his militia service required his full attention.^[9]

He later served in the 3rd New Zealand Parliament as representative for the Town of New Plymouth electorate from 1864 to 1865, and in the 4th New Zealand Parliament as representative for the Omata electorate from 1868 to 1870.^[9][11]

He was Colonial Treasurer (forerunner to the modern Minister of Finance) in the first Fox Ministry under Premier William Fox.^[9]

Later life

Later in life, Charles served the community of New Plymouth as a Maori interpreter as he had learned the language and customs of the Maori people over his long life in New Plymouth.^[7]

In the 1890s, Brown donated memorabilia of John Keats to the Keats House museum. Some of the items he had inherited from his father Charles Armitage Brown, while others were obtained from Keats' relatives and friends and their descendants with whom the Brown family remained in contact over the years. His descendants continued to donate Keats memorabilia over the years.

He died in 1901 when, aged 81 years, he was hit by a train in New Plymouth in the main street of the town. He had been on his way to catch a bus, when he was distracted and crossed the road to buy some fish, and then stepped back across the road into the path of the train. The death of such a well-known local identity, which was witnessed by many citizens, led to the relocation of the railway line to prevent similar accidents.^[7]

Like his father, he was buried on Marsland Hill. His headstone names him as Charles Keats Brown, although there seems to be no prior evidence of Keats as his middle name. However, given his father's close friendship with John Keats at the time of Charles's birth, it does not appear to be completely implausible either.

Popular culture

Charles Brown featured (in a small way) in the 2009 film Bright Star, written and directed by Jane Campion which focuses on the final few years of the life of John Keats and his relationship with Fanny Brawne and Charles's father Charles Armitage Brown. In the film, Charles Armitage Brown (played by actor Paul Schneider)^[12] is presented as close to "a villain, a cynical boor who knocks up his housemaid (Antonia Campbell-Hughes) and banishes Fanny so the boys can work on their plays and poems".^[13] The pregnant housemaid in the movie was called "Abigail" and so was presumably intended to represent Abigail O'Donohue, Charles Brown's mother. In one scene, Abigail shows off her baby to the Brawne family; this baby must therefore be Charles Brown (the baby did not appear in the film credits, presumably as it was not a speaking role).

External links

• “Half portrait of Charles ‘Carlino’ Brown, aged six,” by Joseph Severn, 1826
• 'B.J. Foster, 'Brown, Charles (1820-1901)', Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, 1966.

References

1. ^ "Life of John Keats" by Charles Armitage Brown with notes by Dorothy Hyde Bodurtha and Willard Bissell Pope, accessed 30 December 2009
2. ^ "The friend of Keats: a life of Charles Armitage Brown", by Eric Hall McCormick, Victoria University Press, 1989.
3. ^ “Half portrait of Charles ‘Carlino’ Brown, aged six,” by Joseph Severn, 1826
4. ^ Letter to Joseph Severn, from Charles Armitage Brown, 31 May 1836, accessed 30 December 2009
5. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Noble Friend of Famous Poet — Further Facts about John Keats from Charles Brown's Letters. — Relics Restored From New Zealand, The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 12, Issue 1, 1 April 1937, accessed 30 Dec 2009
6. ^ ^{a b c d e} Cyclopedia Company Limited (1908). "Mr. Charles Brown". The Cyclopedia of New Zealand : Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay & Wellington Provincial Districts. Christchurch. http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-Cyc06Cycl-t1-body1-d1-d2-d2.html. Retrieved 16 June 2010. 
7. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Charles Brown Goes Down in History, Puke Ariki, 21 January 2005, accessed 30 December 2009.
8. ^ Photo of Taranaki Provincial Superintendent's Residence, Courtenay Street, Puke Ariki, accessed 30 December 2009
9. ^ ^{a b c d} Foster, Bernard John (updated 22-Apr-09). "BROWN, Charles". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/brown-charles/1. Retrieved 13 June 2010. 
10. ^ "ELECTION FOR THE GREY AND BELL DISTRICT.". Taranaki Herald: p. 2. Volume VI, Issue 303, 22 May 1858. http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=TH18580522.2.11. Retrieved 26 June 2010. 
11. ^ Wilson, James Oakley (1985) [First ed. published 1913]. New Zealand parliamentary record, 1840-1984 (4 ed.). Wellington: V.R. Ward, Govt. Printer. OCLC 154283103. 
12. ^ "Bright Star (2009)", Internet Movie Database, accessed 30 Dec 2009
13. ^ "'Bright Star' movie review", The Boston Globe, 25 Sept 2009, accessed 30 Dec 2009

Parliament of New Zealand
Preceded by Thomas King	Member of Parliament for Grey and Bell 1855–1856 1858–1860	Succeeded by John Lewthwaite
Preceded by John Lewthwaite		Succeeded by Thomas King
Preceded by Henry Hanson Turton	Member of Parliament for Town of New Plymouth 1864–1865	Succeeded by Henry Sewell
Preceded by Arthur Samuel Atkinson	Member of Parliament for Omata 1868–1870	Succeeded by Frederic Alonzo Carrington
Political offices
First	Superintendent of Taranaki Province 1853–1857 1861 1865	Succeeded by George Cutfield
Preceded by George Cutfield		Succeeded by Henry Robert Richmond

Persondata
Name	Brown, Charles
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1820
Place of birth
Date of death	1901
Place of death