He was born the third or fourth son of William Voules Brown (1809 – 29 January 1893) and Harriet Brown, née Perkins (1812 – 6 July 1897) of
Brighton, South Australia, who emigrated on the
Coromandel in 1837. In 1885 and 1886 he was a partner in the Darwin shipping firm of Adcock Brothers. In 1887 his elder brother Victor Voules Brown (1841-1910) took over the business of
Vaiben Louis Solomon, who ran "Solomon's Emporium", in an 1885 stone building on Smith Street,
Darwin (at that time named Palmerston), and there conducted the business of the Port Darwin Mercantile and Agency Co., the Eastern and Australian Steamship Company, the Northern Territory Mining Exchange and the North Australian agency for
Lloyd's of London. Brown worked there for his brother from 1887 to 1894. At some stage the building was renamed "
Brown's Mart", and by that name today functions as a venue for live theatre. In 1910 Bown was elected to the seat of Northern Territory, with
Tom Crush as his colleague; the seat was dissolved in 1911 when the Commonwealth Government took over responsibility for the Territory. Around 1920 Brown built a home "Wenlock" at 15 Jetty Road, Brighton, South Australia. Around 1923 he sold a parcel of land and right-of-way to the trustees of
St Jude's Church, Brighton, for use as a cemetery. The sale did not include the Brown family vault. ==Other interests==