Background
Brown was born in Newcastle, New South Wales, the youngest child of James Brown and Elizabeth (née Foyle).
Brown was born in Newcastle, New South Wales, the youngest child of James Brown and Elizabeth (née Foyle).
He attended Newington College, commencing as a boarding student in 1886.
From 1931 he was the senior partner of J & A Brown Limited.
John Brown left the bulk of his estate, valued for probate at £640,380, to his general-manager Thomas Armstrong and to Sir Adrian Knox, as tenants in common, to carry on the firm during the lifetime of Stephen Brown. Brown was a keen fisherman and grew prize winning dahlias and chrysanthemums at Segenhoe Study. In the city he lived at 153 Macquarie Street, Sydney.