IN THE BEGINNING

John Francis Brown was born in Levis, Quebec in 1866, the son of Sergeant John Brown of the Royal Engineers, who had been posted to Canada to help restore the Citadel at Quebec City at the time of the Fenian Raids. Sgt. John Brown came to Canada aboard the steamship Persia, the first vessel to arrive in Canada bearing the news of the death of Queen Victoria's consort, Prince Albert. The vessel arrived in mid-winter and the troops had to disembark in small boats, a number of which were lost in the ice before making the Island of Bisque in the Saint Lawrence. From there it took three days by canoe to reach Quebec City.

Completing his posting in Canada in 1870, Sgt. Brown, his wife Janet (McCuaig) and their family returned to England where John Francis Brown received his education at the Plymouth Free School.

Retiring from the service in 1882, John Brown returned to Canada with his family, living in a house he built for himself on Oak Street. Young J. Francis Brown obtained employment in various architects' offices, including those of Edmund Burk and William Kaufman, the latter, being the local architect for the New York firm of James & James on the Gooderam Building, (Flat Iron Building). The firm assigned John Francis to be Clerk of the Works on this project. As the project drew to a close, John Francis, now 25 years of age, decided to strike out on his own in 1891 and so renting an office in this fine building for $200.00 per year, he set up practise. His record of expenses in opening his practise are recorded in long-hand in a fine hand and include the following:

Carpet	$23.23		Subscription to American Architect	$25.00
Chairs	13.25		Advertisement in the "Mail"	13.25
Stationary	9.45		Bookcase	8.00
Sundries, Letterbook, Pencils	4.00		Postage	1.25
Tables & Desk	28.00		3 Month Rent	50.00
Drawing Material	0.71		Total	$176.14

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