BROWN, RICHARD (1804-60) was born in Dublin, and educated by an uncle. As a youth he went to Tasmania and entered a mercantile office in Hobart and at the age of 20 visited Bay of Islands in a whaler. He had a good education and pleasant manners. Coming to Taranaki soon after the Colony was established, he engaged in the coastal trade and whaling and eventually settled down as a merchant in New Plymouth. Later he became also an auctioneer and for a while was a journalist on the Taranaki Herald staff. He was Provincial Councillor for Omata (1857-59). In the native feuds he supported Ihaia against Katatore. When war broke out Brown was appointed a captain in the native contingent. On 26 May 1860, while reconnoitring along the beach, he was fired on and wounded by hostile natives at the ford of the Waiongona river. He died on 31 Aug.

Taranaki P.C. Minutes, 1858; Wells, p 205; Gudgeon, p 47; Taranaki Herald, 3 Oct 1855; 8 May 1858.

Reference: Volume 1, page 67

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