John Hepburn Brown

JH Brown seems to have spent his whole working life at sea, first of all on sailing ships before transferring to steam.
The first record for him shows that by 1889 he had already obtained his 3rd Mates’ Certificate and during the 1890s he passed the exams for his 2nd and 1st Mates’ Certificates and finally his Masters’ Certificate in 1897. During these years he sailed mainly on 4-masted barques which were used as long distance cargo ships sailing to Australia, New Zealand and South America.
Brown joined the Donaldson line in 1900 and by 1913 he was Master of their steam ship Marina which he commanded until his death in 1916. In January 1914 he was instrumental in saving the 13 members of the crew of the five-masted American schooner Fuller Palmer 154 miles southeast of Cape Cod. In recognition of this he was awarded a gold watch and chain by the President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson.