Sylvester John Browne

Sylvester John Browne
Born	1841 Heidelberg, Colony of New South Wales
Died	4 August 1915
Occupation(s)	Mining entrepreneur, pastoralist, sportsman
Known for	Mining ventures, horse racing involvement, exploration

Sylvester John Browne (1841 – 4 August 1915), occasionally referred to as Sylvester John Browne Jnr, was a prominent Australian figure known for his ventures in mining, exploration, and sports throughout the country. He was the sibling of writer Thomas Alexander Browne, better known by his pen name "Rolf Boldrewood."

History

Born in Heidelberg, within the Colony of New South Wales in 1841, Browne was the son of Captain Sylvester John Browne (circa 1790–1864) and Eliza Angell Browne (née Alexander; c. 1813–1899). Captain Browne, previously a ship captain for the East India Company, migrated with his family to New South Wales in 1830 aboard the barque Proteus, which he both owned and commanded. He established homes on Sydney’s outskirts, including "Newtown House" and the mansion called "Enmore," which lent their names to the suburbs Newtown and Enmore. After experiencing drought conditions in 1840, the family moved to "Hartlands" located in Heidelberg. In 1847, Captain Browne was declared mentally incapacitated following threats made against his son and was subsequently institutionalized; no further documentation about him exists.

Information about Sylvester John Browne’s schooling remains limited. Early in his professional life, he engaged in pastoralism in Queensland, managing estates such as Sandringham around the period when Queensland separated from New South Wales. He was appointed a magistrate at Gympie in 1876 and by 1884 had become a commission agent based in Hillston, New South Wales.

Horse racing

In 1883, the mortgagee repossessed the Morphettville Racecourse after financial difficulties forced the South Australian Jockey Club into insolvency due to the ban on totalizators. Five years later, with these restrictions relaxed, Browne acquired the property—advised by T. F. Wigley—and leased it back to the revitalized Club with an option for purchase.

Browne also held involvement with the Victorian Racing Club and maintained lesser ties with the Victorian Amateur Turf Club. In 1888, he bought four yearlings—Carrington (imported from South Australia), Tinlander, Loch, and Hartlands—which he raced with moderate achievement before withdrawing from horse racing around 1891.

Mining

In 1886, Browne co-founded and served as a local director of the Broken Hill Junction Silver Mining Company (Limited), where he was also its principal shareholder holding 20,000 £1 shares. He stepped down from the board in December 1892 after moving to Western Australia.

He additionally held a directorship at the Sterling Hill Silver Mining Company starting in 1887. Browne established a company that controlled nearly all of its 24,000 £1 shares to purchase the Bayley's Reward claim near Coolgardie, Western Australia from its original discoverers Bayley and Ford. At its height, this mine’s valuation reached £480,000.

Other interests

During his younger years, Browne excelled as a pigeon shooter and cricketer; later in life he developed a passion for golf and played a key role in securing the Sandringham course for the Royal Melbourne Golf Club.

His life ended suddenly at "Garomna," a property he had recently acquired near Cloncurry, Queensland.

Family

Captain Sylvester John Browne was married to Eliza Angell Browne (née Alexander; c. 1813–1899).

• Thomas Alexander Browne (1826–1915) wed Margaret Maria Riley in 1860.

• • Rose Christiana Angell Browne (1862–1935), an author known as "Rose Boldrewood"
  • Everard Browne (1864–1926), involved with uncle Sylvester’s mining enterprises; married Muffle Chirnside of Werribee Park, Victoria
  • Emma Margaret Browne married E. Henry Street, son of MP John Rendell Street and sibling of Sir Philip Whistler Street
  • T. Valentine Browne (d. 1909), metallurgist who assisted uncle Sylvester at Bayley’s Reward gold mine
  • Emily Louisa Browne married Robert Silvers Black in 1903
  • Gerald Macleay Browne, mining engineer who married Olive Isabel Smith, daughter of Sir Gerard Smith (governor), Governor of Western Australia

• Annette Browne married Robert George Massie; their son was cricketer Hugh Hamon Massie
• Emma Browne (c. 1828 – 1905) married Molesworth Greene, chairman of South Broken Hill directors
• (Elizabeth) Corientia Browne (c. 1828 – 1875) married William Walker, who was first Commodore of the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron
• Fourth daughter Eliza Alexander Browne (1833–1910)
• Fifth daughter Constance Browne (1837–1919) married James Tobin Cockshott of South Yarra, Victoria; their son Harold Murray Cockshott became a barrister
• Lucy Forest Browne (1839–1913) wed Sir Frederick Darley, Chief Justice of New South Wales; they owned Lilianfels summer residence at Katoomba
• Sylvester John "Vessie" Browne (1841–1915) married Anna Catherine Stawell, daughter of Sir William Stawell, in 1889

• • (Sylvester) Ulick Browne (1890–1964), stood for election in the seat of Kennedy in 1952
  • Sir Denis John Wolko Browne (1892–1967), married author and politician Helen Simpson in 1927
  • Roderic Stawell "Pat" Browne (1894–1915), killed during World War I at Gallipoli
  • Maureen and Diana Browne; Diana remained unmarried and accompanied her mother as of 1937
  • Fourth son Sylvester Browne (circa 1900)

• (Laura) Lilias Browne (1844–1917) married Major-General Sir Peter Scratchley in 1862