People Australia

Richard Brown (c.1751-1831) was found guilty on 15 July 1785 at the Abingdon Quarter Session, Berkshire, of the theft of seven sheep skins. Sentenced to 7 years transportation he arrived in Sydney in January 1788 aboard the Alexander as part of the First Fleet.

Brown was sent to Norfolk Island in March 1790 on the Supply. By July 1791 he was maintaining himself on a Sydney Town lot and was living on 12 acres at Grenville Vale by the end of the year. He had married Mary Pinder in a mass wedding ceremony on the island in November; they were to remain childless.

In 1794 Brown was selling grain to the government. He held 60 acres of land. In December Richard and Mary left Norfolk Island for Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) on the Porpoise. Brown held 80 acres of land at Clarence Plains in 1809 and 40 acres at Risdon. He was buried at Hobart on 19 November 1831. His occupation was given as labourer and his age was stated as 87.

* information from Mollie Gillen, The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (1989), pp 52-53