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Hamilton, was born at Edinburgh, Scotland, on
the 3rd April, 1826. He is a son of William Brown, of Milntown, Langholm,
Dumfriesshire, his mother being Elizabeth Johnston, of Berwickshire. The
family emigrated in 1833, and settled in Montreal. Mr. Brown in his
earliest years attended the celebrated school in Edinburgh taught by Mr.
Adams, the author of Adams' Grammer." In Montreal he attended
the school conducted by the Rev. Edward Black, D.D., the well-known
minister of St. Paul's Church. He left school at the age of fourteen, and
entered the establishment of A. Laurie & Co., dry-goods merchants, of
Montreal. after a few years service there he entered the employment of
Robert Campbell, but soon afterwards was successful in obtaining a
position as junior clerk in the firm of Gillespie, Moffatt & Co., of
Montreal. He was advanced from one position to another in the house,
during the seven years that he was in their employ. Donald McInnes (now
Senator McInnes), offered Mr. Brown a position of responsibility in his
firm in Hamilton, which he accepted, and left Montreal in the winter of
1850 for Hamilton. After spending some time with D. McInnes & Co., the
late W. P. McLaren offered him a position in his wholesale grocery house,
which he accepted. Soon after he was admitted as a partner, and continued
in the firm until Mr. McLaren retired, when he became the principal of the
firm of Brown, Gillespie & Co., who succeeded W. P. LcLaren & Co.
; and has continued the business under different partnerships since, being
now the head of Brown, Balfour & Co. Mr. Brown was connected with the
Mercantile Library Association of Montreal, and at the time of his leaving
that city was vice-president; and carried with him to his new home a
letter of commendation from that association. He was one of the original
founders in Montreal of the Athenaeum Club, a debating society which
counted among its members many young men who have since been in
parliament, and some who have become ministers of the crown, and others
now occupying very high positions at Ottawa. While yet a young man, Mr.
Brown took an active part in the debates; and in 1848 he delivered the
inaugural address as president. The society had rooms in what is now
Nordheimer's Hall, Great St. James street, Montreal, and on public nights
the large hall used to be crowded. It was in connection with this society
that Mr. Brown first tested his powers as a public speaker. To the
strength and readiness gained by taking part in its debates, are no doubt
due the fluent and polished qualities which mark his public speeches. When
a young man, he received a commission as ensign in the militia regiment of
which the late Hon. George Moffatt was colonel. On his arrival in
Hamilton, he was exchanged to the Hamilton battalion, and subsequently
retired with the rank of major. He has never been connected with the
active militia. With respect to Mr. Brown's public offices, it may be said
that he has been secretary and president of the Board of Trade; was
president of the Dominion Board of Trade; and the year previous to his
election as president, moved the resolution approving the national policy,
which was carried. He was commissioner and chairman of water works; and
presented the address to the Prince of Wales when His Royal Highness
turned the water on to the city. He has likewise been president of the
Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway. Mr. Brown was president of the
Northern and Pacific Junction Railway, connecting Ontario with the
Canadian Pacific Railway, until the same was leased to the Northern and
Northwestern Railway. He is now a director of the Northern and Pacific
Junction road, and was on the first train which ran over the road, on the
28th of January, 1886, connecting Ontario with the Pacific Ocean. He
likewise is a director of the Great North-Western Telegraph Company; is a
trustee for the bondholders of the Wellingston, Grey and Bruce Railway;
was vice-president of the St. Andrew's Society; and chief of the
Caledonian Society; and has lent a helping hand to many a Scotchman
arriving in distress. He was appointed vice-consul for the kingdom of
Hawaii in 1884. In politics Mr. Brown is a staunch Conservative. He ran
for Hamilton for the Local Legislature. He was elected president of the
Conservative Association, and still continues his connection with that
organization. He was originally a Presbyterian, but for the last thirty
years has been a member of the Church of England. He has been a delegate
to the diocesan and provincial synods ever since both were organized. Mr.
Brown was married, in 1852, to Maria Z. Evatt. His second marriage was in
1862, to Mary Kough, eldest daughter of the late Thomas Harley Kough, of
Shrewsbury, England. There are four sons living by the first marriage, and
three sons and two daughters by the second marriage. Mr. Brown is a ready,
careful, comprehensive, and exceedingly effective speaker. His speech in
advocacy of the national policy before the Dominion Board of Trade was an
exceedingly able deliverance, and attracted considerable attention, and
was published in pamphlet form. His oratorical ability was further shown
in his inaugural address when he became president of the Dominion Board of
Trade. In 1878 he addressed the great Conservative Convention at
Shaftesbury Hall, Toronto, and his speech was regarded as one of the most
exhaustive and telling utterances on that important occasion. It will be
remembered that at the commencement of the Americal civil war, the
American government prohibited the export of live hogs, which embargo
would have the effect of killing the packing trade at Hamilton. Mr. Brown
was dispatched to Washington to confer with the authorities there, with a
view to rescinding the order; and with such force and tact did he present
the case, that the decree was cancelled. In 1865, Mr. Brown visited
England, and was the first merchant who introduced Canadian cheese, as
Canadian, into the British market. It had been sent there before, but
under State of New York names. The trade has since grown to gigantic
proportions. In 1882 he, in company with a number of gentlemen from the
United Kingdom, visited the North-West, and his notes of travel were
published. His enthusiasm for the development of that country, and his
opinion of its great future, are well known through his public utterances.
Ever since his arrival in Hamilton, Mr. Brown's manifold activities have
been felt in all the public enterprises in which the city was concerned.
With the devotion of enthusiasm, he has come to the front whenever and
wherever the city's interests were to be served. When the project of
constructing the Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway was revived in 1866,
Mr. Brown was, as we have seen, elected president of the company. For four
years his time was almost exclusively devoted to the promotion of the
project. These were probably the four years of the hardest work of Mr.
Brown's life, and the result of his labours was the most valuable service
to the city and the country served by these railways. This is not the
place to give even a sketch of the novel contest between Toronto and
Hamilton, which ended in the construction of the Wellington, Grey and
Bruce railway. It will serve the purpose in hand to say that for its
construction from the municipalities along the line of route from Guelph
to Southampton, and that every bylaw for that purpose was fiercely opposed
by Toronto, which desired bonuses from the same municipalaties for her own
line. Mr. Brown gathered around him a band of men in Hamilton, and
throughout the districts affected, whom he inspired with his own
enthusiasm, and who felt unbounded confidence in his leadership. Mr.
Thomas White, now the honourable the minister of the Interior, united with
Mr. Brown in the fierce battle of the gauges, and roused the people by his
magnetic eloquence and convincing addresses. Every side line was
penetrated by canvassers, and in every school-house meetings were held at
which subject was discussed. The result of the long contest was that all
the bonuses necessary for the construction of the road were voted, and
more than the most sanquine hopes of its promoters at first were realized.
A large and fertile territory was opened up to railway communication and
the commercial position of the City of Hamilton was saved from disaster.
It is not awarding too much credit to Mr. Brown, to say that it is mainly
to the confidence with which he inspired the people of the counties
interested, and the ability with which he conducted the campaign, that
this result is due. Though the fight with the Toronto men was keen, and in
its details sometimes bitter, it left no rankling feeling of animosity
behind. Each side recognized that its opponents were engaged in a
perfectly legitimate contest from their own point of view. With all the
cares of a large business to engross his attention, Mr. Brown has always
found time to interest himself in whatever was for the good, not only of
Hamilton, but of the Dominion. He took an active interest in organizing
the Hamilton Coffee Tavern Company, of which he is president. Mr. Brown is
a gentleman of the most genial manners, full of good humour, and free from
affectation. His companionship is much prized by all who are admitted to
its privileges.
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