Sir Melville Richmond Brown, 3rd Baronet

Sir Melville Richmond Brown, 3rd Baronet (13 October 1866 – 20 February 1944) was an English landowner.

Early life

Brown was born on 13 October 1866. He was the eldest son of Sir William Richmond Brown, 2nd Baronet and the former Emily Mountsteven. The family lived at Chesham Place in Belgravia, London, and Astrop Park.[1]

His paternal grandparents were Alexander Brown and Sarah Benedict (née Brown) Brown. Among his extended family were uncles James Clifton Brown, MP for Newbury, and Sir Alexander Brown, Bt, also an MP.[2] His maternal grandparents were Gen. William Thomas Blewett Mountsteven and Emily (née Woodforde) Mountsteven.[1]

Career

Upon the death of his father in 1906, he succeeded as the 3rd Baronet Brown, of Richmond Hill, Lancashire which had been created in 1863 for his great-grandfather William Brown, a prominent merchant and founder of the banking-house of Brown, Shipley & Co.[3]

Brown gained the rank of Captain in the 3rd Battalion, Devonshire Regiment and the rank of Honorary Major in the 3rd Battalion, Devonshire Regiment.[3]

Personal life

On 27 February 1906, he married Lilian Alice Mabel Roussel, a daughter of Robert Roussel, three months before he succeeded his father as the third baronet.[4] The wedding took place at the register office at Christchurch, Hampshire and they lived for a time at White Rock, in Brockenhurst. In May 1910, Sir Melville's affairs were place under the control of a guardian, his younger brother Frederick, due to his "lunacy."[5] After being told she only had a few months to live in the early 1920s, she took up exploring.[6][7][8] They divorced in November 1930, with Sir Melville naming F. A. Mitchell-Hedges as co-respondent.[5] Lady Richmond Brown had accompanied Mitchell-Hedges on several expeditions to Central America, where they obtained relics for the British Museum.[9]

Sir Melville died on 20 February 1944. As he died without issue, he was succeeded in the baronetcy by his nephew, Charles Frederick Richmond Brown, eldest son of his younger brother Frederick.[3] His former wife died in 1946.[6]

References

1. Debrett's illustrated baronetage and knightage (and companionage) of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. 1871. p. 61. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
2. Brown, Mary Elizabeth (1917). Alexander Brown and His Descendants, 1764-1916. East Orange, N.J.: Abbey Print. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
3. Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003, volume 1, page 540.
4. "Lilian Mabel Alice ('Mabs') (née Roussel), Lady Richmond Brown - National Portrait Gallery". www.npg.org.uk. National Portrait Gallery, London. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
5. "BARONET'S WIFE. EXPLORER AS CO-RESPONDENT DIVORCE DECREE FOR SIR M. RICHMOND BROWN. MR. F. MITCHELL HEDGES STEWARDESS IN LINER GIVES EVIDENCE". Evening Standard. 11 November 1930. p. 17. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
6. Times, Special to THE NEW YORK TIMES The New York (5 October 1946). "LADY BROWN, NOTED AS AN EXPLORER, 63; Leader of Several Expeditions to Central America Dies-- Made Indian Discoveries". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
7. "Woman's blouse". americanindian.si.edu. National Museum of the American Indian. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
8. "A Woman in the World's Far Places; Lady Richmond Brown's Adventures Among Unknown and Savage Tribes UNKNOWN TRIBES: UNCHARTED SEAS. By Lady Richmond Brown, F.L.S., F.R.G.S., F.R.S., F.R.A.I. 268 pp., with 52 illustrations. New York: D. Appleton & Co". The New York Times. 25 January 1925. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
9. TIMES, Special Cable to THE NEW YORK (11 June 1930). "EXPLORER IS CORESPONDENT; Sir M. Richmond-Brown Sues, Naming F.A. Mitchell-Hedges". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 January 2022.

Baronetage of the United Kingdom
Preceded by William Richmond Brown	Baronet (of Richmond Hill) 1906–1944	Succeeded by Charles Frederick Richmond Brown