Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Brown, James
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1840-1866
History
James Brown was born on September 6, 1790, at Glamis near Dundee, Scotland, the son of James Brown and Janet Douglas. He arrived in New Brunswick in 1810, as a sailor on the brig "Hector of Dundee". He abandoned the ship in St. Andrews and worked as a laborer on the farms and in the woods for several years until he was able to buy land at Tower Hill, St. David Parish, Charlotte County. His "rocky farm" remained his home and a major interest for the rest of his life. He also taught school for a number of years.
In 1817, he married Sarah Sherman. They had ten children, of whom four sons and three daughters survived. Sarah died in 1839, and three years later Brown married Catherine (Cameron) Gillespie, a young widow with an infant son. They had eight children, of whom four sons and three daughters survived.
ohn Brown was a practical man with strong beliefs in the dignity of the common man, and the virtues of honesty, hard work and self improvement. He had received a basic education in the common schools of Scotland and in his words "a tolerable training in the habits of industry". He was brought up as a Presbyterian but as an adult joined the Universalist Church as did his daughter Catherine (Brown) McKenzie. He helped organize the First Universalist Society, St. David, in February 1840. He was also a strong supporter of the temperance movement. However, in spite of his dislike of "trappings" and his long hours of work, he very much enjoyed his family, his political encounters, gatherings of friends, good food, music and poetry, especially that of Robert Burns, whom family say was his first cousin. His contemporaries commented on Brown's qualities of tolerance and wit and these are evident in his writing.
Brown's public career covered more than 30 years. His occupations were roads, and later railroads, the development of the educational system, easier acquisition of land by immigrants and the poor, increased participation in government. He first contested a Charlotte County seat in the general election of 1827. He was unsuccessful, but ran again in the election of 1830, and this time won his seat. He was re-elected in 1834, 1837, 1842, and 1846. Major appointments of this period were Supervisor of the Great Road from St. Andrews to Fredericton, 1838-1842, and as a government member of a commission to survey and report on New Brunswick agricultural practices, 1849. All these assignments required travel throughout the province.
In 1850, Brown was defeated in the general election but was appointed to the Legislative Council. In 1854, he resigned from the Council to contest his old seat. This time he won and was appointed Surveyor General and later to the Board of Works. In 1856, he resigned with the Fisher Cabinet, and did not contest the ensuring election, probably because of health and financial difficulties. However in 1857, he was again elected and returned to his posts of Surveyor General and member of the Board of Works. As Surveyor General, he was able to implement the system of purchasing land grants by labor on the roads. He saw this as a help to poorer settlers as well as an incentive to immigrants. During the 1850s, he was also involved in the restructuring of the University of New Brunswick, and drafted the Parish School Act of 1859. A scandal in the Crown Land Office erupted in the spring of 1861. A Legislative committee enquiring into the matter, found dubious practices on the part of some employees and some members of the legislature, but Brown's honesty was not seriously questioned.
Brown was defeated in the election of 1861, and was almost immediately appointed as a special Immigration Agent to lecture in Great Britain on opportunities for Immigrants in New Brunswick. He toured England, Scotland and Ireland in 1861 and 1862 with his son, John C. Brown, promoting New Brunswick as a home for immigrants. He was also one of the commissioners of the New Brunswick Exhibition in the International Exhibition in London in 1862.
Following this trip, Brown retired to his farm at Tower Hill. At the request of his neighbors, he contested the election of July 1864, and also the election in February 1865, as an opponent of Confederation but was unsuccessful in both attempts. He died on 18 April 1870.
SOURCES: Michael Swift; "James Brown", Dictionary of Canadian Biography, Vol. IX, page 86; Lillian M.B. Maxwell; "James Brown", Maritime Advocate in Busy East, November 1950, page 9-13