John Brown (1723–1808)

Brown was born on 3 March 1723 in Dalkeith, Scotland, the son of William Brown and Margeret Brown. Brown came to Denmark a few months after his father had been killed in the Battle of Culloden.

Brown was initially employed in Nicolai Fenwich's trading house in Helsingør. He moved to Copenhagen in 1750 to work as a wholesaler. In 1755, he was granted citizenship as a merchant. He purchased a property at Christianshavns Kanal, close to Snorrebroen, where he established a coal storage depot and warehouse. From 1757 his office was in Vingårfsstræde. In 1759, John and his brother David established a trading house, John & David Brown, which mainly traded in wine, bituminous coal and materials for the clothing industry. Their ships mainly traded in the Danish West Indies and the Mediterranean, but later also in Danish India. In 1787, John & David Brown had a fleet of 17 merchant ships.

In the late 1750s, Brown became a major stakeholder in the Danish Asiatic Company. He was a member of the board of directors in 1770–75 and again in 1779–85. From 1884, he also began to trade in Danish India with his own ships, especially after his brother was appointed as Lord Governor of Tranquebar.[1]

He acquired the dockyard of Unrost at Frederick's German Church in Christianshavn for his eldest son William in 1781. Next year he became a partner in his father's trading house, which changed its name to John & William Brown & Co. However the company went bankrupt in 1788.[2]

Brown was interested in agriculture. He was the second-largest landowner in Gentofte (after Count Johann Hartwig Ernst von Bernstorff). He was the owner of Tranegård with the brickyard Maglegård and Getreuensand. He imported Scottish farmers to improve the management of the land.

In 1782, he purchased the Barchmann Mansion at the corner of Frederiksholms Kanal and Ny Kongensgade in Copenhagen. He also acquired the manor of Benzonseje. The estate included six churches.

His wife, Anna Appleby

He married Anna Appleby (1738-1798) on 20 October 1756 in the German Reformed Church in Copenhagen. She was the daughter of Peter Applebye and Anna Pattridge.

Brown spent his last years at Maglegård where he had constructed a new main building. The estate was owned by one of his daughters. He died on the estate on 16 January 1808 and is buried in Applebye's Chapel in Frederick's German Church in Copenhagen.

• Hauch-Fausbøll, Theodor: Af Slægten Browns Historie, 1918.
• John Brown at geni.com

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