Frank Paterson Brown

Frank Brown
Photograph of Brown in Native American costume, c. 1910
Personal information
Full name	Francis Paterson Brown
Date of birth	(1887-11-13)13 November 1887
Place of birth	Berwick, Victoria
Date of death	26 November 1928(1928-11-26) (aged 41)
Place of death	St Kilda, Victoria[1]
Original team(s)	Scotch College
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1905–06	Melbourne	5 (0)
1907	St Kilda	1 (0)
Total		6 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1907.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Francis Paterson Brown (13 November 1887 – 26 November 1928) was an Australian sportsman, adventurer and journalist. He was a national champion in the hurdles and represented Australia at the Inter-Empire Championships in 1911. He was also a mining entrepreneur, soldier, and wrestling promoter.

Brown was born on 13 November 1887 in Berwick, Victoria.^[2] He was the son of Mary Jane (née Paterson) and George Brown. His older half-brother Louis Esson was a dramatist.^[3] His father died in 1897 and his mother remarried to politician James Gibb.^[4]

Brown attended Scotch College, Melbourne.^[5] As a child he was painted by Arthur Streeton, an acquaintance of his uncle John Ford Paterson; his cousins Esther and Betty Paterson were artists.^[6]

Brown excelled at hurdles. He won the 440-yard and one-mile hurdles at the Victorian public school championships in 1904, and the following year won the 440-yard event at the Australian Athletics Championships in Sydney. He was the Victorian champion in the 120-yard hurdles and the 440-yard dash in 1907.^[5]

Brown represented Australia at the Inter-Empire Championships in London in 1911. He competed in the 120-yard hurdles event, where he fell while leading the race. He won an international event in Berlin in 1912 and was reportedly presented with a silver cup by Wilhelm, German Crown Prince.^[5]

Outside of athletics, Brown played high-level Australian rules football in the Victorian Football League, making five appearances Melbourne in 1905 and 1906 and one appearance for St Kilda in 1907.^[2] He was also a talented boxer, wrestler and golfer.^[5]

In 1909, reputedly at the instigation of Jack London whom he met in Tasmania, Brown undertook to walk overland from Bourke, New South Wales, through the Outback to Darwin.^[7] On his journey he took up four mining leases with silver and lead deposits on the Wilton River near Bulman.^[8] After returning to Melbourne he formed a syndicate to develop the project and floated the Mount Maroomba Proprietary Company.^[9]

Brown enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in February 1917. He served with the 8th Brigade, Australian Field Artillery, with the rank of gunner. He was discharged in May 1919.^[10]

In 1922, Brown joined the staff of the newly created Sporting Globe as athletics editor.^[11] He later wrote a column titled "Frank Brown's Sporting Flashes".^[12] He was credited with reviving wrestling as a spectator sport in Melbourne, by encouraging Stadiums Limited to bring prominent American wrestlers on tour. He visited the United States on behalf of Stadiums Limited in 1926 to recruit talent.^[13]

Brown died suddenly on 26 November 1928 at his home in St Kilda, aged 41. He was survived by his wife and son.^[13] His obituary in The Herald was written by C. J. Dennis, who observed that "probably no contemporary Australian had such a varied and picturesque career".^[7]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Frank Brown (Australian footballer).

• Frank Paterson Brown's playing statistics from AFL Tables