W H Brown shipyard at the foot of Hobson Street in 1909
He was born in a Martello tower[4] at Dymchurch, Kent to Stephen Cain and Elizabeth Brown, on 4 May 1838 and went to Greenwich Hospital School. His siblings were George Hoile, Sarah Heywood, and Elizabeth Brown.[5] There are two versions of the next part of his life. Either in 1850, aged 12, he went to California with an uncle,[6] or in 1855 he went with his father. At Samoa he was on the American barque Elvira when it was wrecked,[7] whilst on a trip to Australia. He was marooned for several weeks,[4] until taken to Sydney by a son of the missionary, John Williams.[7] The 1926 version of Brown's life story says he came to Auckland in 1854, was met by his father, who had also come to settle and served 3 years in the militia during the New Zealand Wars, in Captain Clark's company, building redoubt at Pūkorokoro / Miranda,[6] for which he was awarded a medal.[8] Alternately, towards the end of 1855 he may have come in shipbuilder Henry Niccol'sMoa, served a seven-year apprenticeship in his shipyard and then, presumably in 1862, volunteered for the wars.[7] The latter fits better with the date of the war and the redoubt.
Either way, he then partnered with another apprentice, John Sims as Sims and Brown,[4] until 1890,[9] after which he continued as a sole trader. Their first yard was on the North Shore, where, from February to June 1865, they built their first vessel, Telegraph, a 30 ton cutter.[10][11] They added a yard at the foot of Princes Street. Later yards were at Devonport, near the foot of Hobson Street[4] and in Poore Street,[12] now Westhaven Drive, on the western reclamation.[13] He built nearly fifty craft, including -
From 1863 he lived on the North Shore,[7] where he was a Member of the Devonport Highway Board from 1876,[18] until it merged into Devonport Borough Council in 1886. He was on it until 1894 and remained a member of Devonport Domain Board until at least 1902. Brown also represented the Council on Auckland Harbour Board for several years.[7] He was largely responsible for Devonport having a promenade from the dock to North Head, ensured that its streets were a chain wide and properly formed before they were handed over[4] and supported pumping water from Pupukemoana to a reservoir on Mount Victoria.[7] He was president of the Master Shipbuilders’ Federation for many years,[4] a Freemason Past Master and, for over thirty years, superintendent of the Church of England Devonport Sunday school.[7]
Brown married Annie Binns on 24 October 1861.[19] He was survived by her and their children - Walter, Frederick, Harold Brown, Mrs. T. Farquharson, Mrs. (Captain) Richards, Mrs. E. Pike, all of Auckland, Mrs. (Captain) Hardy, of Dunedin, 23 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.[4]
