John Brown
| Town/City | Ettalong Beach |
|---|---|
| First name | John |
| Last name | Brown |
| Country of Origin | Cornwall, England |
| Date of Birth | 1788 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1827 |
| Submitted by | Stephen Brown |
Story
John Brown and wife Sarah arrived in Australia on 7th April 1827 per the ship “Elizabeth” which had sailed from Plymouth on 25th November 1826 under the command of Captain Collins. Although he does not appear on the list of cabin passengers the ship did bring 32 steerage passengers and later information suggests that Brown was amongst them. The ship also carried 60 Merino and Leicester sheep and one cow. The arrival of the “Elizabeth” was reported in the Sydney Gazette of April 9 1827.
On the 22 April 1827 the baptism of Elizabeth Australia, John and Sarah’s infant daughter was registered at St Phillips Church Sydney. Elizabeth ‘s baptism record shows that she was born 3 April 1827 however on a later document Brown stated that she was born at sea 2 weeks out of New South Wales. The child had been baptised by William Horton and the baptism transmitted to William Cowper the then Minister of St Phillips. The word Wesley appears after Horton’s name indicating the family were what we now know of as Methodist. At the time of Brown’s arrival there was a large portion of Wesleyans in Cornwall where in subsequent documents Brown claims to have been born.
Tragedy struck the family early with the death of Mrs Brown reported in the Sydney Gazette of June 4 1827. The paper reports her to have been struck down at her residence in Pitt Street of an “apopleptic fit”. It is from this article that we learn that Brown was an employee of the Surveyor Generals Department. It is also suggested in The Gazette that the Browns had three children but later information tends to suggest they arrived in Australia with only two children.
On 1 January 1828 John Brown remarried to Sarah Rhoda Ennis. Sarah had been born in the colony on 28 October 1809 and was the child of convicts John Ennis and Mary Wright. In the Census of November 1828 Brown aged 40, Draftsman of the Surveyor Generals Office, Residence Pitt Street is listed with child Ann B Brown aged 6 Eliza A Brown aged 18 months Sarah Brown his new wife and Ann Brown from Dublin, a convict servant aged 18 yrs. She later absconded on 2/2/1829.
John and Sarah Ennis had three children – John born 1828 presumably after the census was taken, Mary Born 1829 and Sarah Rhoda born 1830 and John Bradford in 1834.