Thomas Brown of Lanfine and Waterhaughs FRSE FFPSG (1774 – 16 March 1853) was a noted Scottish surgeon with an interest in botany, mineralogy and fossil collecting. He is best remembered for his large donation of his entire lifetime collection of fossils etc. to the

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 , ...

, which is generally known as the Lanfine Collection.

Life

Brown is thought to have been born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

in 1774. His father was a wealthy banker, also called Thomas Brown, and had purchased 117 acres of land in

Langside Langside is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated south of the River Clyde, and lies east of Shawlands, south of Queens Park, west of Cathcart and north of Newlands. The district is residential and primarily middle-class, ...

from Robert Crawford of

Possilpark Possilpark is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow, situated north of the River Clyde and centred around Saracen Street. The area developed around Saracen Foundry of Walter MacFarlane & Co., which was the main employer. In the wake of th ...

. This house was completed in 1780 and he presumably spent his childhood here. He attended the

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 ...

, studying botany, and was taught by Professor Daniel Rutherford. He inherited the country estates of Lanfine and Waterhaughs in Ayrshire, from his cousin Nicol Brown in 1828. Lanfine House had been built by his uncle, John Brown (1729-1802) in 1772. From 1799 he was Deputy Professor of Botany at the

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 , ...

under Prof James Jeffray. He resigned this post in 1816 and was replaced by Robert Graham, just prior to Botany being given its own chair at the university. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1830. He died on 16 March 1853 in

The Lanfine Collection

Brown began collecting in 1803 following a gift of 200 minerals from Major Thomas Wilson. He purchased many samples and began collecting in the field in 1816. Thomas’ daughter gifted his large collection, to be split between the universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow. This collection consists of 5,473 mineral samples and around 1,600 fully catalogued fossils received by the University of Glasgow in several instalments between 1875 and 1897. It included ‘’significant archaeological and ethnographic material’’. Six hundred items of the mineral collection was passed to the University of Edinburgh in 1874, where it is now held by its Geology Department. On his daughter's Martha's death her fortune was left to the University of Glasgow to provide the Lanfine Bursaries.

Family

He married Marian Jeffrey, sister of

Francis Jeffrey, Lord Jeffrey Francis Jeffrey, Lord Jeffrey (23 October 1773 – 26 January 1850) was a Scottish judge and literary critic. Life He was born at 7 Charles Street near Potterow in south Edinburgh, the son of George Jeffrey, a clerk in the Court of Sessi ...

, in 1800. They had four children, Martha, Thomas, Harriet and Marian. Thomas (d.1873) was an author whose works included ''Borgia: A Tragedy''

Artistic recognition

A portrait of Thomas Brown by Colvin Smith from 1840 hangs in the Court Office of the University of Glasgow. A portrait of him also hangs in the

Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery The Hunterian is a complex of museums located in and operated by the University of Glasgow in Glasgow, Scotland. It is the oldest museum in Scotland. It covers the Hunterian Museum, the Hunterian Art Gallery, the Mackintosh House, the Zoology M ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Thomas Scottish botanists 1774 births 1853 deaths People associated with Glasgow Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Scottish surgeons 19th-century British botanists Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of Glasgow Scottish mineralogists