James Clifton Brown JP (13 February 1841 – 5 January 1917) was a British

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP).

Early life

He was the second son of Alexander Brown and his wife Sarah Benedict Brown, daughter of James Brown. His elder brother was Sir William Richmond Brown, 2nd Baronet, the

High Sheriff of Northamptonshire This is a list of the High Sheriffs of Northamptonshire. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the respo ...

, and his younger brother was the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

politician

Sir Alexander Brown, 1st Baronet Sir Alexander Hargreaves Brown, 1st Baronet (11 April 1844 – 12 March 1922) was an English Liberal Party, and later Liberal Unionist, politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1868 to 1906. Family Brown was the third son of Alexander Br ...

. His paternal grandfather was the banker and merchant Sir William Brown, 1st Baronet. Brown was educated at

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is the fifth-oldest surviving college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by ...

, where he graduated with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

Career

He was elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

at a by-election in 1876 for Horsham in Sussex, and held the seat until his defeat at the 1880 general election. Brown served as

Lieutenant-Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colo ...

of both the

Royal Lancashire Militia Artillery The Royal Lancashire Militia Artillery was a part-time reserve unit of Britain's Royal Artillery based in Lancashire from 1853 to 1909. Background The long-standing national Militia (United Kingdom), Militia of the United Kingdom was revived by ...

and the

1st Lancashire Artillery Volunteers The 1st Lancashire Artillery Volunteers (1st LAV), popularly known as 'Brown's Corps', was an auxiliary unit of the British Army raised in Liverpool in 1859. As the Lancashire & Cheshire Royal Garrison Artillery in the Territorial Force it was r ...

and on his retirement in 1884 became the Honorary Colonel of the militia unit. He was a Justice of the Peace and in 1888, he was appointed

High Sheriff of Sussex The office of Sheriff of Sussex was established before the Norman Conquest. The Office of sheriff remained first in precedence in the counties until the reign of Edward VII when an Order in Council in 1908 gave the Lord-Lieutenant the prime office ...

Personal life

On 21 March 1866, he married Amelia Rowe, daughter of Charles Rowe and Sarah Amelia Pfeiffer. His father-in-law Charles Rowe (1819–1876) was born in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

and was of

mixed race Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...

, an

Octoroon In the colonial societies of the Americas and Australia, a quadroon or quarteron was a person with one quarter African/ Aboriginal and three quarters European ancestry. Similar classifications were octoroon for one-eighth black (Latin root ''oc ...

in the parlance of the time, as the son of planter Charles Rowe, Sr. and his 28-years younger mistress Mary Gauntlett (b. 1782), "a free

Quadroon In the colonial societies of the Americas and Australia, a quadroon or quarteron was a person with one quarter African/ Aboriginal and three quarters European ancestry. Similar classifications were octoroon for one-eighth black (Latin root ''o ...

" who owned slaves herself. Mary Gauntlett was born out of wedlock to Elizabeth Roche (De La Roche, Delaroche; 1761–1812), a half black woman described in 1795 as "a free mulatto", and Lieutenant William Gauntlett; Elizabeth Roche was the daughter of Mary, "a freed Negro" born around 1740, and white planter John De La Roche. His mother-in-law was born in

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

in 1825 to Friedrich (Frederick) Pfeiffer, an Hanoverian-born flour merchant, and his Quakeress wife who left her sect to join her husband's faith; the Pfeiffers moved to Lima in 1821. James Clifton Brown and Amelia had ten children, four daughters and six sons, including: *Elsie Clifton Brown (1861–1958), who married Sir Evelyn Ridley Bradford, 2nd Bt * Brigadier General

Howard Clifton Brown Brigadier-General Howard Clifton Brown (3 April 1868 – 11 September 1946) was a British army officer and Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Newbury. Early life Brown was born on 3 April 1868. He wa ...

(1868–1946), who represented the same constituency as his father as a member of parliament. * Lieutenant-colonel

Douglas Clifton Brown Douglas Clifton Brown, 1st Viscount Ruffside, (16 August 1879 – 5 May 1958) was a British politician who represented the Conservative Party (UK). He served as Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom), Speaker of the House of Commons fr ...

(1879–1958), who served as Speaker of the House of Commons from 1943 to 1951 and was elevated to the Peerage of the United Kingdom as the

Viscount Ruffside A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a Title#Aristocratic titles, title used in certain European countries for a nobility, noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-he ...

in 1951. * Vice Admiral Francis Clifton Brown (1874–1963) * Mildred Clifton Brown (1876–1949), married Charles George Ashburner Nix, of Tilgate House in Crawley Brown died on 5 January 1917.

Descendants

One of his grandsons,

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown Sir Geoffrey Robert Clifton-Brown (born 23 March 1953)Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 1, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 538 is a British politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Th ...

(1899–1983), followed him into Parliament, and his great-great-grandson, also

(b. 1953), is currently serving in Parliament.
Keeping it in the Family
' The House of Commons Library (18 February 2014).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, James Clifton 1841 births 1917 deaths Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge High Sheriffs of Sussex Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1874–1880 Royal Garrison Artillery officers