William Henry Thomas Brown (14 August 1840 – 21 July 1926) was an Australian politician and sailor. He was a member of the

Tasmanian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Hobart. The Assembly has 25 m ...

from 1882 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1893, both times representing the electorate of

Campbell Town Campbell Town is a town in Tasmania, Australia, on the Midland Highway. At the 2021 census, the town had a population of 823. History Traditional owners of the Campbell Town area The traditional custodians of the Campbell Town area were t ...

. Brown was born in

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

, the son of a businessman, and was educated at the high school there, but left school at twelve to become a sailor. He worked on a boat owned by his father, ''Pet'', trading between Australia and

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

. He became a ship's master at nineteen, captaining the ''India'', trading between Australia and New Zealand, before returning to his old ship and route. In 1856, he broke the record for a journey from Melbourne to the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

in the clipper ''Heather Bell'', which reportedly remained unbeaten at the time of his death. In 1862, in the ''Thomas Brown'', he came to public attention when he brought the news of the death of

Albert, Prince Consort Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Franz August Karl Albert Emanuel; 26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861) was the consort of Queen Victoria from their marriage on 10 February 1840 until his death in 1861. Albert was born in the Saxon duch ...

from Mauritius before the ordinary mail from Britain had arrived in Australia. In 1882 he was elected to the

as the member for

. He retired in 1889 to take up the position of Conservator of Forests. In this capacity, he proposed a reforesting program, but was not supported. In 1892, he resigned his government role and was re-elected to his old seat in 1893. He was re-elected several times, but was defeated in 1903 for the new seat of

Cambria Cambria is a name for Wales, being the Latinised form of the Welsh name for the country, . The term was not in use during the Roman period (when Wales had not come into existence as a distinct entity). It emerged later, in the medieval period, a ...

after Campbell Town was abolished in a redistribution. He nominated to contest Queensborough at the 1906 state election, before withdrawing and unexpectedly contesting the 1906 federal election in Denison as an independent instead; he was met with a dismissive public response and lost his deposit. In 1913, he was captaining the ''Rachel Cohen'', which made an unsuccessful attempt to resupply the

Australasian Antarctic Expedition The Australasian Antarctic Expedition was a 1911–1914 expedition headed by Douglas Mawson that explored the largely uncharted Antarctic coast due south of Australia. Mawson had been inspired to lead his own venture by his experiences on Ernest ...

Macquarie Island Macquarie Island is an island in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, about halfway between New Zealand and Antarctica. Regionally part of Oceania and politically a part of Tasmania, Australia, since 1900, it became a Tasmanian State Reserve in 197 ...

. He was still sailing as late as 1916, when he was chief officer on the cargo ship ''Dart''. In 1920, Brown was involved in an oil-drilling venture on

Bruny Island Bruny Island ( Nuenonne: Lunawanna-alonnah) is a island located off the south-eastern coast of Tasmania, Australia. The island is separated from the Tasmanian mainland by the D'Entrecasteaux Channel, and its east coast lies within the Tasman S ...

. In later years, Brown served as a justice of the peace, and was a made a life member of the Hobart Working Men's Association in 1923. He died in Hobart in 1926 and was buried at

Cornelian Bay Cemetery Cornelian Bay Cemetery is a cemetery in Cornelian Bay, Tasmania, Australia. It is the oldest cemetery in Tasmania that remains in use. History The cemetery location, a section of the former Government Farm site, was selected in the late 1860s, ...

. He was twice married, in 1863 and 1879, with eight children from his first marriage and four children from his second.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, William 1840 births 1926 deaths Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly Politicians from Hobart Burials in Tasmania Sea captains