Extract from the City of Liverpool and District Historical Society Inc. Est 1959
6th December 2023
ON THIS DAY! 7 Decmber 1907
Australia's oldest man John Brown died at the age of 119 at the Liverpool Asylum for the Infirm and Destitute
At the back of Liverpool General Cemetery is a large patch of grass devoid of headstones. This area is actually full of pauper graves, mostly men from the Liverpool's Old Men's Asylum. Here lies John Brown, probably the oldest man to have lived in Australia having died on 7 December 1907 aged 119.
John Brown was admitted to the Liverpool Asylum in 17 Feb 1889 at the spritely age of 101. He became quite the celebrity with any newspaper story on the Asylum reporting on the 'Methuselah of Australia'. In 1904, Governor and Lady Rawson paid John Brown a visit while in Liverpool to open the Liverpool Show.
John Brown served in the British Navy and visitors would hear of his exploits as a Powder Monkey serving with Admiral Nelson, perhaps at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Powder Monkey's were boys who replenished gun powder to the cannons on board ships. They would note the letter 'D' tattooed on his arm, the mark of a deserter. His back apparently bore the scars of being flogged.
A large man with a wicked sense of humour, he would refer to King George III as 'old farmer George'.
Researching the claims made by John however has been frustrating as, well, there are a lot of John Browns! There were some 100 John Browns at the Battle of Trafalgar!
Back in 1903, a letter was sent to the Dean of Canterbury to verify John Brown's age. The Dean confirmed that there where three possible John Browns but John could not recall his mother's maiden name so even today with the assistance of Google or Ancestry, his birth date cannot be verified.
John claimed to have arrived in Australia on the Royal Admiral in 1820 but a record has not been found to confirm that this ship did in fact come to Australia in that year.
John died on the 7 December 1907 and is buried in the Liverpool General Cemetery in a pauper's grave.
Read lessExtract from the City of Liverpool and District Historical Society Inc. Est 1959
6th December 2023
ON THIS DAY! 7 Decmber 1907
Australia's oldest man John Brown died at the age of 119 at the Liverpool Asylum for the Infirm and Destitute
At the back of Liverpool General Cemetery is a large patch of grass devoid of headstones. This area is actually full of pauper graves, mostly men from the Liverpool's Old Men's Asylum. Here lies John Brown, probably the oldest man to have lived in Australia having died on 7 December 1907 aged 119.
John Brown was admitted to the Liverpool Asylum in 17 Feb 1889 at the spritely age of 101. He became quite the celebrity with any newspaper story on the Asylum reporting on the 'Methuselah of Australia'. In 1904, Governor and Lady Rawson paid John Brown a visit while in Liverpool to open the Liverpool Show.
John Brown served in the British Navy and visitors would hear of his exploits as a Powder Monkey serving with Admiral Nelson, perhaps at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Powder Monkey's were boys who replenished gun powder to the cannons on board ships. They would note the letter 'D' tattooed on his arm, the mark of a deserter. His back apparently bore the scars of being flogged.
A large man with a wicked sense of humour, he would refer to King George III as 'old farmer George'.
Researching the claims made by John however has been frustratin... More
