Thomas
Broun was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 15 July 1838, the son of
John Broun, a Lieutenant (and artist), and his wife, Margaret
Stewart. Both his father and an uncle were naturalists of
considerable repute and so it was not unexpected that Broun took a
keen interest in natural history, especially
insects.
As
Broun’s family were of some social standing he was educated in
Edinburgh by a private tutor.
He
enlisted in the Forfar Artillery Militia in the mid 1850’s and on 8
July 1856 was commissioned as an Ensign in the 35th (Royal Sussex)
Regiment of Foot, which he then accompanied to Burma. It was here
that he started a collection for the British
Museum.
In
May 1857 Broun and a small detachment of men from his Regiment were
sent to Calcutta at the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny. He is
believed to have been engaged in the protection of the French
settlement of Pondicherry, which was threatened by a large body of
mutineers.
The
main engagement of the 35th Regiment during the Indian
Mutiny was in the Jugdispoore jungles in April 1858, where, on 23
April 1858 they suffered heavy casualties (the dead included 3
officers, 5 sergeants and over 100 men).
On
17 March 1861 Broun was promoted to Lieutenant. Near the end of 1861
he was struck down with cholera and narrowly escaped death. He was
invalided home in 1862 and retired from the army on 3 October of
that year.
On
26 March 1863 Broun married Ann (Anne) Shepherd at Edinburgh; she
was well educated, a talented linguist and musician, and a lover of
bird and animal life. They immigrated to New Zealand later in the
year, and were to raise a family of at least six
daughters.
Broun
had letters of introduction from the Duke of Hamilton to Governor
Sir George Grey, and on 19 September 1863 was offered a commission
as Captain in the newly formed 1st Regiment of the Waikato
Militia.
Between
1863 and 1866 Broun commanded detachments of Colonial troops
encamped at St John’s (Manukau), Papatoetoe, Alexandra (Tuakau),
Judea (Tauranga), Hamilton and Cambridge Redoubts. He was known as a
kind and respected commander who always put the interests of his men
first. His diary of the period is held at Auckland Museum and a copy
is held in The Collection.
In
1866 Broun was in command of a detachment of men from the
7th Company of the 1st Waikato Regiment when (together with two
companies of the 12th Regiment) they engaged Maori in the
bush near Katikati. The fight was described as being fierce and
vicious and the Maori were defeated. Captain Broun later commanded
serval columns from Whakatane which were sent to intercept the Maori
leader Te Kooti. Under his command was Cornet Harry Wrigg of the Bay
of Plenty Cavalry Volunteers who was subsequently awarded the New
Zealand Cross.
Broun
retired from the army for the second time in his life in 1868. And, with
an entitlement to a Crown land grant, and took up farming at
Opotiki. The venture was not successful. Allegations that he had
withdrawn the money of four privates but had not paid it to them led
to a refusal to issue his Crown grant. He was declared bankrupt in
mid 1867, and the allegations were not disproved until the end of
the year.
Broun
continued to collect and describe insects, particularly beetles. He
usually worked at night, at times enlisting the services of his
daughters to sort out specimens from his samples. He presented the
first of his many papers to the Auckland Institute in
1875.
In
1876 Broun was offered a position with the Auckland Board of
Education via his old colleague and then Minister of Defence Colonel
Haultain. From 1876 to 1888 he was employed as a teacher at Tairua,
Whangarei Heads, Kawau Island and Howick. During this period he
prepared the first volume of his Manual of the New Zealand
Coleoptera , which was first published in 1880 and contained
descriptions of 1,140 species. Six further volumes were published,
the last in 1893. Later descriptions were published in the papers of
scientific societies. In total Broun identified some 3979 species of
New Zealand insect and his works still remain the definitive text on
this subject.
In
1894 Broun was appointed to the Department of Agriculture as
government entomologist at Auckland. Between 1896 and 1907 he was
also the inspector (latterly chief inspector) of imported fruit at
Auckland. He went on to found what became the DSIR (Department of
Scientific and Industrial Research) (now ESR) and was admitted as a
Fellow of the Entomological Society. This is a remarkable
achievement given that he had never actually attended University and
his qualifications appear limited to what he was taught by his
private tutor some 60 years prior.
In
1905 he was promoted to the rank of Major in the New Zealand Militia
and also held the post of Commandant and Vice President of the
Empire Veteran’s Association.
He
lived at a small farmlet “Nga Oki” at Runciman, near Drury from
about 1889 to 1908. He shifted to 26 William Street (now Willcott
Street) in Mount Eden in 1911 and remained there until his
death.
He
died at Auckland on 24 August 1919, survived by his wife and six
daughters. Ann Broun died in 1923. He is buried at Waikumete
Cemetery in West
Auckland |