NiklasPqy606 at 14:21, 22 December 2025

2025-12-22T14:21:03Z

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{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix = [[Colonel (United Kingdom)|Colonel]]
| name = Francis Brown
| honorific_suffix = [[Victoria Cross|VC]]
| birth_date = 7 August 1837
| death_date = 21 November 1895 (aged 58)
| birth_place = [[Bhagalpur]], [[British India]]
| death_place = [[Sandown]], [[Isle of Wight]]
| placeofburial = West Hill Cemetery, [[Winchester]]
| image = Francis David Millet Brown VC.jpg
| caption =
| allegiance = {{flagcountry|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}}
| serviceyears = 1855–1894
| rank = [[Lieutenant-colonel]] (Official) [[Colonel]] (Field Promotion)
| branch = [[Bengal Army]] [[File:Flag of the British Army.svg|23px]] [[British Army]] [[British Indian Army]]
| commands =
| unit = [[1st European Bengal Fusiliers]] [[101st Regiment of Foot (Royal Bengal Fusiliers)|101st Regiment of Foot]] Indian Staff Corps
| battles = [[Indian Mutiny]] [[Umbeyla Campaign]]
| awards = [[File:UK Victoria Cross ribbon bar.svg|30px]] [[Victoria Cross]]
}}

[[Colonel]] '''Francis David Millet Brown''' [[Victoria Cross|VC]] (7 August 1837 – 21 November 1895) was a [[British people|British]] recipient of the [[Victoria Cross]], the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to [[United Kingdom|British]] and [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] forces.

==Details==
Brown was born on 7 August 1837 in [[Bhagalpur]], [[India]], the son of [[George Francis Brown]] of the Bengal Civil Service.<ref name="RMF">{{cite web|url=http://www.royalmunsterfusiliers.org/e6brown.htm|title=Royal Munster Fusiliers|accessdate=8 March 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304054942/http://www.royalmunsterfusiliers.org/e6brown.htm|archivedate=4 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Edmund Burke|title=The Annual Register of World Events: A Review of the Year|year=1896|publisher=Longmans, Green|page=217}}</ref> He was educated at Grosvenor College, [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], and from 1852 to 1854 by a private tutor, Brisco Morland Gane, late [[curate]] of [[Honiton]].{{cn|date=April 2015}}

He was 20 years old, and a [[lieutenant]] in the [[1st European Bengal Fusiliers]] (later [[The Royal Munster Fusiliers]]) during the [[Indian Mutiny]] when the following deed, on 16 November 1857 at [[Narnoul]], [[India]], for which Brown was awarded the Victoria Cross:<blockquote>''For great gallantry at [[Narnoul]], on the 16th November, 1857, in having, at the imminent risk of his own life, rushed to the assistance of a wounded soldier of the 1st European Bengal Fusiliers, whom he carried off, under a very heavy fire from the enemy, whose cavalry were within forty or fifty yards of him at the time.''<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=22357|page=557|date=17 February 1860}}</ref></blockquote>

He was again promoted, this time to [[Captain (land and air)|captain]] 23 August 1864. He returned to the army as [[Major (rank)|major]] on 7 December 1875. He was promoted to [[lieutenant colonel]] 8 December 1881. He was Presented to [[Queen Victoria]] at a [[Levee (event)|Levee]] at [[St James's Palace]] on 24 April 1860. He later {{When|date=April 2015}} achieved the rank of [[colonel]].{{cn|date=April 2015}}

==Personal life==
Between 1868 and 1873, Brown was employed as assistant [[Principal (school)|principal]] of [[University of Roorkee|Thomason Civil Engineering College]], [[Roorkee]]. He married Jessie Rhind Russell. Her date of birth is unknown. They had two sons:

*Frank Russell Brown (24 March 1872 – 3 April 1900). Frank was commissioned 2nd lieutenant, Royal Munster Fusiliers. He was made a lieutenant, 1 August 1895.
*[[Claude Russell-Brown]] (11 April 1873 – 19 January 1939). Claude was commissioned as 2nd lieutenant, [[Royal Engineers]], 22 July 1892. He was made a lieutenant 22 July 1895. Claude moved to [[Canada]] and was better known as a noted amateur tennis player. He reached the quarterfinals of the men's singles event at the 1908 [[Summer Olympics]] and competed at [[The Championships, Wimbledon|Wimbledon]] in 1904.<ref name="sports-reference">{{cite web |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/br/charles-brown-1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418070145/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/br/charles-brown-1.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 April 2020 |title=Charles Brown Olympic Results |accessdate=7 October 2020 |work=sports-reference.com}}</ref>

Brown remarried,{{When|date=April 2015}} to Jessie Doris Childs, after the death of his first wife.{{When|date=April 2015}}

==Death==
Francis David Millet Brown died on 21 November 1895, aged 58, from undisclosed causes, in [[Sandown]], [[Isle of Wight]] and was buried in Winchester Cemetery, after a service at [[Winchester Cathedral]].

==See also==
*[[List of Indian Mutiny Victoria Cross recipients]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==

*{{cite book|first=David|last=Harvey|year=1999|title=Monuments to Courage: Victoria Cross Headstones and Memorials. Vol.1, 1854–1916|publisher=Kevin & Kay Patience|oclc=59437297}}
*''[[The Register of the Victoria Cross]]'', ''[[This England (magazine)|This England]]'' (1997); {{ISBN|0-906324-27-0}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20041210053535/http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/stewart/hampshir.htm Location of grave and VC medal] ''(Hampshire)''
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160304054942/http://www.royalmunsterfusiliers.org/e6brown.htm Short Bio]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Francis}}
[[Category:1837 births]]
[[Category:1895 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian Rebellion of 1857 recipients of the Victoria Cross]]
[[Category:British recipients of the Victoria Cross]]
[[Category:British East India Company Army officers]]
[[Category:People from Bhagalpur]]
[[Category:Royal Munster Fusiliers officers]]
[[Category:British military personnel of the Umbeyla Campaign]]
[[Category:Indian Staff Corps officers]]

Francis David Millet Brown - Revision history

NiklasPqy606 at 14:21, 22 December 2025