John Brown (31 page)

Osborne, Ken (ed.).
Osborne House
, English Heritage, 1999

Patchell-Martin, Arthur.
The Queen in the Isle of Wight
(Brochure II), Vectis, Isle of Wight, 1898

Robinson, John Martin.
Windsor Castle
, Royal Collection, 1997

Stirton, John.
Crathie and Braemar: A History of a United Parish
, Milne and Hutchinson, 1925

——
Balmoral in Former Times
, Forfar, 1921

Taylor, Alistair & Henrietta.
Jacobites of Aberdeenshire & Banffshire in the Forty Five
, Milne & Hutchinson, 1928

Tyler, Michael Sidney.
Victoria and Albert at Home
, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1980

Watt, William.
A History of Aberdeenshire & Banff
, William Blackwood, 1900

York, Duchess of and Stoney, Benita.
Victoria and Albert: Life at Osborne House
, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1991

When she was thirteen years of age in 1832, Queen Victoria began a series of journals which she continued to fill until her death in 1901. Those she left passed into the hands of her youngest daughter Princess Beatrice, who, on her mother’s instructions, transcribed large passages from the journals into blue copybooks. As she worked Princess Beatrice burned the originals. On her own auspices the princess destroyed much which she did not transcribe and it is thought that many references to John Brown, his background and career, were thus destroyed. Nevertheless Queen Victoria’s comments on John Brown can be assessed from the following:

Helps, Arthur (ed.).
Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands from 1848 to 1861
. Smith, Elder, 1868

[With the assistance of Amelia MacGregor].
More Leaves from the Journal of A Life in the Highlands from 1862 to 1882
, Smith, Elder, 1884

David, Duff (ed.).
Victoria in the Highlands: The personal journal of Her Majesty Queen Victoria
, Muller, 1968

Benson, A.C. & Esher, Viscount (eds).
The Letters of Queen Victoria
, 1st Series, 1837–61, John Murray, 1907

Buckle, G.E.
The Letters of Queen Victoria
, 2nd Series, 1862–85, John Murray, 1926

——
The Letters of Queen Victoria
, 3rd Series, 1886–1901, John Murray, 1930

Bolitho, H. (ed.).
Further Letters of Queen Victoria: From the Archives of the House of Brandenburg-Prussia
, Thornton-Butterworth, 1938

Dyson, Hope & Tennyson, Charles (eds).
Dear and Honoured Lady: The Correspondence Between Queen Victoria and Alfred Tennyson
, Macmillan, 1969

Fulford, Roger (ed.).
Dearest Child: Letters between Queen Victoria and the Princess Royal 1858–1861
, Evans Brothers, 1971

Aronson, Theo.
Heart of A Queen: Queen Victoria’s Romantic Attachments
, John Murray, 1991

Baillie, Dean & Bolitho, Hector.
Later Letters of Lady Augusta Stanley
, Howe, 1927

Cooke, A.B. & Vincent, J.A. (eds).
Lord Carlingford’s Journal
, Oxford University Press, 1971

Crawford, Emily.
Victoria, Queen and Ruler
, Simpkin, Marshall, 1903

Erickson, C.
Her Little Majesty
, Robson, 1997

Hardy, Alan.
Queen Victoria was Amused
, John Murray, 1976

McClintock.
The Queen Thanks Sir Howard
, John Murray, 1945

Marie Louise, Princess.
My Memories of Six Reigns
, Evans, 1956

Martin, Sir Theodore.
The Life of the Prince Consort
, Smith, Elder, 1875– 1880

Neville, Barry St-J. (ed.).
Life at the Court of Queen Victoria
, Good Books Ltd, 1984

Packard, Jerrold M.
Farewell in Splendour: The Passing of Queen Victoria and Her Age
, Penguin Group, 1995

Ponsonby, Sir Frederick.
Recollections of Three Reigns
, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1957

Reeve, Henry (ed.).
Greville: The Greville Memoirs 1817–60
, Longmans Green & Co., 1875–87

Reid, Michaela.
Ask Sir James
, Hodder & Stoughton, 1987

St Aubyn, Giles.
Queen Victoria: A Portrait
, Sinclair-Stevenson, 1991

Strachey, Lytton.
Queen Victoria
, Chatto & Windus, 1921

Victoria, Princess of Prussia.
Queen Victoria at Windsor and Balmoral
, Allen & Unwin, 1959

Whittle, Taylor.
Victoria and Albert at Home
, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1980

Woodham-Smith, Cecil.
Queen Victoria: From Her Birth to the Death of the Prince Consort
, Hamish Hamilton, 1972

Zeepvat, Charlotte.
Prince Leopold
, Sutton, 1998

Antrim, Louisa, Countess of,
Recollections
, London, 1937

Asquith, B.
The Lyttletons
, Chatto & Windus, 1975

Barncand, Odette (ed.).
The Diary of W.M. Rossetti
, Oxford University Press, 1977

Bell, G.K.A.
Randall Davidson
, Oxford University Press, 1938

Blake, Robert.
Disraeli
, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1966

Bradford, Sarah.
Disraeli
, Grafton Books/Collins Publishing Group, 1985

Buckle, G.E. & Monypenny, W.F.
The Life of Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield
, John Murray, 1929

Caulfield, Catherine.
The Emperor of the United States of America & Other Magnificent British Eccentrics
, Corgi/Gransworld, 1982

Dodds, John W.
The Age of Paradox
, Victor Gollancz, 1953

Ellis, S.M. (ed.).
A mid-Victorian Pepys: The Letters and Memories of Sir William Henderson
, London, 1923

Goodman, Jean.
Debrett’s Royal Scotland
, Debrett/Webb & Bower, 1983

Hibbert, Christopher.
Edward VII: A Portrait
, Allen Lane, 1976

Huntly, Marquis of.
Auld Acquaintance
, Hutchinson, 1929

Irvine, Douglas H.
The Royal Palaces of Scotland
, Constable, 1911

Irving, Joseph.
Annals of Our Time
, 1837–1891

Johnston, James B.
Place-Names of Scotland
, John Murray, 1934

Kennedy, H.L. (ed.).
Duchess of Manchester: My Dear Duchess
, John Murray, 1956

MacAlpine, Ida & Hunter, Richard.
George III and the Mad Business
, Allen Lane/The Penguin Press, 1969

MacLeay, Kenneth.
The Highlanders of Scotland
, London, 1866

Magnus-Allcroft, Philip.
King Edward VII
, Penguin, 1964

Maxwell, Sir Herbert.
Holyroodhouse
, HMSO, 1923

New Edinburgh Almanac
, Oliver & Boyd, 1837

Ponsonby, Arthur.
Henry Ponsonby: Queen Victoria’s Private Secretary, His Life from His Letters
, Macmillan, 1942

St Aubyn, Giles.
Edward VII: Prince & King
, Collins, 1979

Thompson, E.P.
William Morris: Romantic and Revolutionary
, Lawrence & Wishart, 1955

Waddington, Mary.
My First Years as a Frenchwoman 1876–1879
, Smith, Elder, 1914

Wilson, John Marcus.
Imperial Gazeteer of Scotland
,
c
. 1866

Wilson, Dr R. McNair.
Doctor’s Progress
, 1938

John Brown appears as a character in one of English novelist and dramatist Laurence Housman’s short biographical ‘chamber plays’ within the series
Victoria Regina
. The series was initially banned by the censor, but was produced at London’s Lyric Theatre in 1937. Set in 1877 the scenes in which John Brown appears are entitled
An Episode of Home Life in the Highlands
. Herein John Brown was portrayed as a pawky, genial friend of the Queen, by actor James Gibson.

In 1950 John Negulesco and Nunnally Johnston’s film
The Mudlark
was issued by Twentieth Century Fox using a screenplay from the novel by Theodore Bonnet. John Brown, played by Findlay Currie, with Irene Dunne as Queen Victoria, is shown as a haughty, tipsy seneschal, inclined to collapse in a drunken heap.

The best portrayal of John Brown so far on film is Douglas Rae and Jeremy Brock’s 1998 Ecosse Films/BBC presentation
Mrs Brown
. The main roles of Brown and Queen Victoria are played by Billy Connolly and Dame Judi Dench. A balanced portrayal of John Brown’s character is achieved, but this (and other dramatisations) gives no data on the Highland Servant’s background and career.

NOTE
: English poet and critic Algernon Charles Swinburn composed a skit-drama ‘founded on Her Majesty’s [
More Leaves
], called
La Mort du Mari
. In it John Brown is murdered by Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, in vengeance’.
See
Cecil Lang (ed.).
The Swinburn Letters
, Vol. 2, Oxford University Press, 1959.

The author wishes to acknowledge with particular gratitude the help given by Mrs N. Lamond, widow of John Brown’s great-nephew, Hugh W. Lamond, and Mrs Ann Lamond-Webb, great-great niece of John Brown, for assisting with queries about the Brown family of Crathienaird, their extant papers and artefacts. And to Mrs Edith Paterson for family reminiscences regarding John Brown’s employment at Balmoral. Important comment on John Brown’s birthplace at Crathienaird was supplied by Dr Alistair Thomson. Each has provided original material on John Brown that does not appear in any other source.

A special thank you further goes to the following for supplying answers to queries, advice on sources and providing relevant materials which have helped greatly in the formulation of this book’s research: Michael Hunter, Curator, Osborne House; Peter J. Ord, Resident Factor, Balmoral; Dr Elizabeth James, The British Library; Peter Johnston, Berkshire Local History Association; Margo Strachan, Media Resources Manager, Aberdeenshire Council; Catherine Taylor, Central Library, Aberdeen City Council; Martin Simpson, Managing Director, The Deeside Water Co. Ltd; The Countess of Longford; Neil Irvine, Windsor Library; Pamela Clark, the Royal Archives, Windsor Castle; Susan Bellamy, National Library of Scotland; Revd R Taylor, Torphins, Aberdeenshire; and Jane Anderson, Blair Castle. Important field work has been undertaken by Mrs Barbara Swiatek, Berkshire Family History Society, and Margeorie Mekie.

Especial appreciation goes to my wife Dr Moira Lamont-Brown, for her companionship, support and encouragement on many research trips in pursuit of John Brown.

Each quotation is identified as to source as it occurs in the text, and copyright heirs and successors are recognised where known. Due acknowledgement is given to Tom Cullen who undertook research on John Brown in the 1960s and published his findings in his book
The Empress Brown
which extended and corrected work done in the 1930s by Evelyn Tisdall who wrote
Queen Victoria’s John Brown
. Individual acknowledgements are also due to Michaela, Lady Reid, for the short line quotes from her
Ask Sir James
, and to Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede for permission to quote from the Ponsonby Papers.

Each photograph is identified as to copyright ownership, and permission to reproduce the images is gratefully extended to all thus identified. Help in researching the images has been gratefully received from Bernard Horrocks, the National Portrait Gallery, Mrs Ann Lamond-Webb and Christine Rew of Aberdeen Art Gallery.