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Authorised form of nameBrown; Robert (1773 - 1858); botanist
Dates1773 - 1858
NationalityBritish
Place of birthMontrose
Date of birth21 December 1773
Place of deathLondon
Date of death10 June 1858
DatesAndPlacesBurial: Kensal Green Cemetery, North Kensington, London, England, United Kingdom
OccupationSurgeon
Research fieldPaleobotany
Botany
ActivityEducation:
Marischal College, Aberdeen; Edinburgh University; studied medicine. SCL (1832)
Career:
Double commission as Ensign and Assistant Surgeon, Fifeshire regiment of fencible infantry; accepted from Sir Joseph Banks a post as naturalist on an expedition to survey the coast of New Holland (1801-1805); returned to England with 4000 specimens; Librarian, Linnean Society; Librarian to Sir Joseph Banks (1810-1820); Banks bequeathed to Brown his home in Soho Square and his collections; Brown agreed to transfer Banks' collections to the British Museum, and was appointed Keeper of the collection (1827); discovered Brownian motion (1827); received Prussian Order pour le Merite; discovered the nucleus of the vegetable cell
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election12/12/1811
RSActivityRoyal Society roles:
VP 1843-1844
Medals and prizes:
Copley Medal 1839
RelationshipsSon of Rev James Brown, Episcopalian Minister
SourceSources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; DSB
Obituaries:
Proc Roy Soc 1857-1859 vol 9 pp 527-532
Virtual International Authority Filehttp://viaf.org/viaf/34572082
CodeNA7438
Archives associated with this Fellow
RefNoTitleDate
EC/1811/18Brown, Robert: certificate of election to the Royal Society
DM/1/22Letter from Robert Brown, Dean Street, to P M Roget10 March 1831
MS/682/10Letter from Robert Brown, Gerrard Street, to [James] Sowerby, Mead Place, Lambeth 14 May 1812
IM/000608Brown, Robert19 September 1895
NLB/13/342Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, to Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, Fellow of the Royal Society29 July 1896
MC/4/197Letter from Charles [Dietrich Eberhard] Konig, [Keeper of department of minerals at the] British Museum, to Robert Brown, [Keeper of the department of botany at the British Museum]10 December 1847
IM/000609Brown, Robert1850
MC/2Volume 2 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1832-1838
MC/2/61Letter from Robert Brown, Dean Street, Soho, to John George Children, Secretary of the Royal Society24 October 1832
MC/4/342Letter from Robert Brown, 17 Dean Street, Soho, to [Samuel Hunter] Christie, Secretary of the Royal Society11 April 1850
MC/4Volume 4 of miscellaneous correspondence regarding business matters, sent to the Royal Society1844-1850
AP/8/2/2Unpublished diagrams, three-dimensional geometric shapes by [William Allman][1811]
AP/8/2/3Unpublished drawings, cellular structure and tissue by [William Allman][1811]
AP/8/2/1Unpublished manuscript, 'An attempt to illustrate a mathematical connection between the parts of vegetables' by William Allman[1811]
AP/8/2Unpublished paper, 'An attempt to illustrate a mathematical connection between the parts of vegetables' by William Allman[1811]
IM/000610Brown, Robertc 1837
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