Thomas Frederic De Courcy Browne (1838 – 9 October 1899) was an Irish-born Australian politician and journalist. He was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

to John Browne and Mary O'Neill. His early life is unclear; some sources state that he was educated at the

University of Dublin The University of Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Átha Cliath), corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dubl ...

, while others indicate he went to the

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

n goldmines as an adolescent. He moved to

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

in 1862 and mined at Burrangong Creek, where he became a local journalist and chairman of the mining court. In his capacity as chairman of the mining court, he developed an influential code of mining regulations. He edited the ''Murrumbidgee Herald'' at

Gundagai Gundagai is a town in New South Wales, Australia. Although a small town, Gundagai is a popular topic for writers and has become a representative icon of a typical Australian country town. Located along the Murrumbidgee River and Muniong, Honeys ...

for a period, then acquired the ''Burrangong Tribune'' in 1864. In 1864, he was also serving as honorary secretary of the Gundagai Hospital. In 1865, he established the ''Gundagai Herald'' at Gundagai, but sold it the next year. In 1867, he was a mining agent at Grenfell and was agent there for the ''Emu Creek Miner''; he also served as Clerk of Petty Sessions there until his dismissal in 1868. In 1868 he followed the gold rush to

Gympie Gympie ( ) is a city and a Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality in the Gympie Region, Queensland, Australia. In the Wide Bay-Burnett District, Gympie is about north of the state capital, Brisbane. The city lies on the Mary River (Queen ...

, where he was a member of the local mining court. He then accepted an appointment as Acting Clerk of Petty Sessions on the Gilbert River Goldfields in July 1869, but quarreled with the Gold Commissioner, leading to both being removed from their positions. He returned to New South Wales in 1870, living at

Gulgong Gulgong is a 19th-century gold rush town in the Central Tablelands and the wider Central West regions of the Australian state of New South Wales. The town is situated within the Mid-Western Regional Council local government area. It is located ...

. In February 1871, he founded the

Gulgong Guardian The ''Gulgong Guardian'' (in full the ''Gulgong Guardian and District Mining Record'') was an English language newspaper published in Gulgong, New South Wales, Australia from 1871 to 1873. The newspaper was first published on 18 February 1871 b ...

newspaper, which he published and edited until its closure in July 1873. In May 1873, he was found guilty of criminal libel against

Thomas Alexander Browne Thomas Alexander Browne (born Brown, 6 August 1826 – 11 March 1915) was an Australian author who published many of his works under the pseudonym Rolf Boldrewood. He is best known for his 1882 bushranging novel '' Robbery Under Arms''. Biog ...

and sentenced to six months imprisonment in

Darlinghurst Gaol The Darlinghurst Gaol is a former Australian prison located in Darlinghurst, New South Wales. The site is bordered by Darlinghurst Road, Burton and Forbes streets, with entrances on Forbes and Burton Streets. The heritage-listed building, predom ...

. He was released after one month on order of the Governor, but was immediately rearrested on embezzlement charges. The ''Guardian'' folded two weeks after his second arrest and he was committed for trial in July 1874; the outcome is not known. In June 1874, he founded another Gulgong area newspaper, the ''Home Rule Pilot'', but this was short-lived. In the same month, he was elected as the Mudgee district representative on the Mining Board of New South Wales, on which he served for several years. He contested the 1874-75 New South Wales election in the seat of Northern Goldfields, but was defeated. In 1880, he was serving as superintendent of the Mudgee Volunteer Fire Brigade. He contested the 1882 election in the Mudgee seat, but was defeated. Browne was elected to the Legislative Assembly at the

1885 New South Wales colonial election The 1885 New South Wales colonial election was held between 16 October and 31 October 1885. This election was for all of the 122 seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly and it was conducted in 37 single-member constituencies, 24 2-memb ...

. He was defeated in 1887, but returned in a by-election for

Wentworth Wentworth may refer to: People * Wentworth (surname) * Judith Blunt-Lytton, 16th Baroness Wentworth (1873–1957), Lady Wentworth, notable Arabian horse breeder * S. Wentworth Horton (1885–1960), New York state senator * Wentworth Miller (born 1 ...

later that year. He was defeated for good in 1889, and moved to

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...

and then to

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. Browne returned to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in 1898, where he died from "paralysis of the brain" in October 1899. Several newspapers claimed that he had died at the

Callan Park Hospital for the Insane The Callan Park Hospital for the Insane (1878 – 1914) is a heritage-listed former insane asylum, which was subsequently, for a time, used as a college campus, located in the grounds of Callan Park, an area on the shores of Iron Cove in Lilyfie ...

. He was buried at

Waverley Cemetery The Waverley Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery on top of the cliffs at Bronte in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Opened in 1877 and built by R. Watkins (cemetery lodge, 1878) and P. Beddie (cemetery office, 1915 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Browne, Thomas 1838 births 1899 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Protectionist Party politicians 19th-century Australian politicians Politicians from Dublin (city) Irish emigrants to colonial Australia