McManus 168

Family

John was born on 9th August 1816 to John Brown and Susan Barclay, members of a long established shipbuilding family in Montrose.^[1]

John was married twice, firstly to Catherine Taylor, with whom he had four children: Frederick W. Brown; Georgina T. Brown; Alice J. Brown and Catherine T Brown.

Secondly he married Helen Emslie with whom he had Thomas Brown; John Brown and Alexander Brown.^[4]

Business

John’s first appearance in Dundee is in the 1846-47 Directory as a shipbuilder on East Dock and living at 3 King Street.

In the 1851 census he was employing 80 men and the first screw steamer built in Dundee was launched from his building-yard in the same year. This vessel, named the ‘Correo’, was of 395 tons, and was fitted with a pair of geared engines of 70 horsepower.^[17]

John was joined by a partner and about 1860 the firm became Brown & Simpson. They prospered and were building two ships a year until the late 1860s,^[18] when shipbuilding in Dundee, and indeed, worldwide was depressed. By the 1871 census the number of employees had shrunk to 30. Ten years later the firm was described as “Shipbuilders and Sawmillers” and was employing only 20 men.

During his career, John’s housing followed a similar pattern to his business. He climbed the property ladder, beginning at 3 King Street, a property near his shipyard,^[5] and rising by 1865 to be the owner of 10 Airlie Place, a recently built and rather prestigious property in the West End of Dundee.^[16] About that time, he was also able to contribute to the building of the Albert Institute, but by the time of his death he owned no heritable property and was effectively penniless.^[3]

Finally

John died in 1888 and the following death notice appeared in the Dundee Courier and Argus on Monday 22nd January: “At 10 Airlie Terrace, Dundee on the 22nd January inst., John Brown late shipbuilder.”^[19]

The entry in the 1891 Calendar of Confirmations and Inventories reads:

“Brown, John. 18 Nov. 1891 Confirmation of John Brown, Shipbuilder, Dundee, who died 22-01-1888, at Dundee, intestate, granted at Dundee, to Helen Mary Emslie or Brown, 10 Airlie Terrace, Dundee, Executrix dative qua relicit. Value of estate £21,9s.”^[3]

The only two items in the Inventory were:

(1) Value of his personal clothes- £ 1:10/-
(2) Legacy of £19:10/- under the Trust Disposition Settlement and Codicils of the late Miss Anne Chalmers who sometime resided at Taymouth Terrace, Broughty Ferry to be supplemented or made good in case of deficiency of funds as has happened or otherwise out of the estate of her late sister, Margaret as provided by her Trust Disposition and Settlement. £19: 19/-
Total £21: 9/-“*^[3]

The Confirmation also revealed that the deceased had no heritable property in the country and that their ante-nuptial contract of marriage did not nominate an executor.^[3]

Although John did not donate anything to the McManus it does have a model of the Strathmore. Both ship and model were built by Brown and Simpson in 1875.

*Some figures are wrong but it is correctly transcribed.