John Macmillan Brown (5 May 1845 – 18 January 1935) was a Scottish-

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

academic, administrator and promoter of education for women. Brown was born in Irvine, the sixth child of Ann Brown and her husband, James Brown, a sea captain. John was raised in a family that placed high value on education—for both sexes. He attended Irvine Academy, then

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

and

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

. He declined a Balliol scholarship in mathematics instead taking a

Snell exhibition The Snell Exhibition is an annual scholarship awarded to students of the University of Glasgow to allow them to undertake postgraduate study at Balliol College, Oxford. The award was founded by the bequest of Sir John Snell in a will made in 16 ...

for Classics and philosophy. In 1874 he was selected as

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

of Classics and English, one of three foundation chairs at the newly established

Canterbury College Canterbury College may refer to: * Canterbury College (Indiana), U.S. * Canterbury College (Waterford), Queensland, Australia * Canterbury College (Windsor, Ontario), Canada * Canterbury College, Kent, England * Canterbury College, Oxford, England ...

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

, then part of the

University of New Zealand The University of New Zealand was New Zealand's sole degree-granting university from 1874 to 1961. It was a collegiate university embracing several constituent institutions at various locations around New Zealand. After it was dissolved in 196 ...

. In his new role, he worked 16 hours a day, covering English literature and composition, Latin and Greek; inspecting secondary schools and examining for teachers' certificates. After a professor of classics was appointed in 1879, he took on history and political economy. Under his patronage Canterbury College admitted Helen Connon as a matriculated student in 1876, the first Australasian university institution to admit women to degree classes on an equal basis with men. Connon was second woman in the British Empire to graduate BA and the first to receive a degree with honours. Brown and Connon married on 9 December 1886. They had two children,

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, and Millicent, who later married

Archibald Baxter Archibald McColl Learmond Baxter (13 December 1881 – 10 August 1970) was a New Zealand socialist, pacifist and conscientious objector. Early life Baxter was born at Saddle Hill, Otago, on 13 December 1881, to John Baxter and Mary McColl. ...

and was mother to the poet James K. Baxter. In addition, Brown also helped establish the Macmillan Brown Library, a research library, archive, and art gallery which is associated with the University of Canterbury. The Macmillan Brown Library's collections focus on New Zealand and Pacific Islands history. Brown also allocated a substantial proportion of his fortune to the Macmillan Brown Library and the University of Canterbury's Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies. Under the pseudonym Godfrey Sweven he also published two Utopian novels: Riallaro, the archipelago of exiles (1901) and Limanora, the island of progress (1903). Brown died at Christchurch on 18 January 1935 at the age of 89, leaving a significant bequest to

Works

* ''The Riddle of the Pacific'' (London: Fisher Unwin, 1924).

Works

References

External links