John Mackellar Brown was born probably circa 1844 London, or perhaps Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He appears in the 1861 census in Britain, living at 7 Up Hyde Park Gardens, Paddington, London, aged 16, born in London (although this might be inaccurate as I have found considerable inaccuracies in census returns - including showing his parents' place of birth as Dundee). His given occupation is scholar but it appears from the school records that he did not attend the same school (Highgate) as his brothers James, Claud and Thomas. He does not appear on subsequent censuses living with his family.
I uncovered the following reference to a John McKellar Brown on the Aussie Heritage website:
"Parma House was built in 1873 and according to a reference in Nowra Museum was completed in 1874...
"Settlement in the South, Antill p.37 notes John McKellar Brown (Parma) as being a member of the inaugural Shoalhaven Agricultural and Horticultural Society formed after a Public Meeting at Terrara on 6th March 1874.
"John McKellar Brown was known as Parma Brown to distinguish him from Bernard Brown who was First Constable south of the Shoalhaven River and also first mayor of Nowra. Designer and builder of Parma House are not known.
"The Shoalhaven Telegraph, December 20th 1905 ... shows that the present property ... was purchased from the Estate in 1905. Apparently there was a time span of 22 years from the time Parma Brown left Australia until the Estate was broken up. Reports from older residents (since deceased) indicated that Mr. Harry Bourne may have leased the Estate from Parma Brown from 1883-1905 and operated a very successful racehorse breeding and training establishment ranking closely to the well known deMestre Stables.
"Parma passed to one of Harry Bourne's sons "Sonny" who sold it in 1932 to Mr. Homburg. He sold the property in 1945 to a Sydney partnership, Brown and McMillan ..."
The property now appears to be rented for holiday purposes as Parma Farm, the owners of which kindly provided me with the following information:
"John Mackellar Brown bought the property in the early 1870’s and commenced building Parma House in 1873. John Mackellar Brown (whom later become known as "Parma Brown" so as not to be confused with Bernard Brown who was another prominent landholder south of Nowra) was the eldest son of John Wyld Brown of 78 Lancaster Gate, Bayswater, London and he married Alice Louisa Rowe, eldest daughter of T.G. Rowe of Narraville, at St Mathias Church Paddington, Sydney on 4th May 1867. Their first child Maude Mary was born the following year at Paddington. Her sister, Ethel Alice, was born at Genda, Queensland in April 1871. The family returned to NSW after two years at Genda and set about making a home from which Mr Brown could supervise the working of the 2560 acres of the newly acquired property.
"John Mackellar Brown commenced work on Parma House in 1873 and it was completed the following year utilising local hardwoods and Australian red cedar. The thirteen-roomed house featured thirteen-foot high ceilings, four fireplaces, servant’s quarters and French window doors opening onto broad verandas. The structure is thought to be a good example of Australian architecture.
"A mortgage document, dated 10th October 1873, reveals that "Parma " Brown borrowed four hundred pounds from William Piesley of Sydney, which one would assume would be to fund completion of the homestead. The terms of the mortgage that one hundred and fifty pounds interest would be charged and monthly instalments of twelve pounds and ten shillings be repaid until the loan was repaid.
"Apparently Parma Brown was a keen photographer but when the Bournes (I think) bought the property, they cleared out the house and burnt all the photographs that were there. I'm sure Parma Brown would have stayed longer if he hadn't run out of money!"
I found a reference to a John M Brown who died in 1910 in Woollahra (a suburb of Sydney) with parents' names John W and Mary. (Registration Number 11817/1910). However there is an indication that he left Australia sometime after leaving Parma House.
My name is Alasdair Broun and I was born and brought up in Scotland, son of a clergyman and a freelance journalist. I took up genealogy as a hobby when I was 17 and I went on to write a PhD thesis in philosophical psychology ... more >
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