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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Wellington Provincial District]

Mr. William Robert Edward Brown

Mr. William Robert Edward Brown, the ex-Registrar-General and the only surviving son of the late Major E. Brown, 86th Regiment, was born at Reading, Berks, England, in 1830, and was educated in Jersey, Schaffhausen, and the London University College School. When twenty-five years of age he sailed with his wife, a daughter of the rector of Keynsham, near Bath, for New Zealand, arriving in Wellington in December, 1855. Turning his attention to farming pursuits, Mr. Brown bought a homestead near Johnsonville, where he lived till 1874, subsequently residing in Wellington. In 1863 he accepted the position of Clerk to the Bench at the District Court. Three years later he became Clerk to the District Court, Curator of Intestate Estates, and Inspector in Bankruptcy. Mr. Brown was appointed Secretary to the Premier and the Cabinet in 1869. Three years later he was gazetted Curator of Intestate Estates for the Colony. In 1873 Mr. Brown was appointed Registrar-General, which position he filled until 1892, when he retired from a lengthy service to the Colony on a pension. In 1860, at the time of the Maori War, Mr. Brown entered the militia as lieutenant, and four years later obtained the rank of captain. Mr. Brown is a member of the New Zealand Institute, He has a family of three sons and three daughters, all of whom are married and settled in Colony.