Cecil Brown (October 9, 1850 – March 6, 1917) was an American attorney, politician, businessman, and banker in the Kingdom, Republic, and Territory of Hawaii.

[5] Thomas and Mary Ann (Rhodes) Brown had four children (Arthur, Godfrey, Alice, and Frank) before leaving England for the warmer climate of the Hawaiian Islands in 1844.

[6] Cecil was homeschooled by his parents and educated by his maternal aunt Sarah Rhodes Von Pfister.

[8] In December 1866 Brown left Honolulu for the United States,[9] and enrolled in Columbia Law School (Washington D.C.).

[10] He graduated with honors in June 1871,[10] and moved to New York City (1871–74) where he was employed by the law firm of Evarts, Southmayd, and Choate.

[14] Despite his future political and business careers, Brown continued the private practice of law (mainly probate) for the duration of his life.

In addition to notary public, he was appointed in 1877 to a three-person Board of Appraisers of Lands,[32] and in 1879 as an Agent to Take Acknowledgments to Instruments.

[35] In February 1884, Cecil Brown (along with brothers Godfrey and Frank) were elected to the Legislative Assembly's House of Representatives.

[42] While planning to run for a vacant seat in the House of Nobles,[43] Brown was appointed Attorney General of the Kingdom of Hawaii in the newly formed cabinet of Queen Liliuokalani in November 1892.

[49] An act calling for a constitutional convention (to which Brown was a delegate) was passed on March 15, 1894, and convened from May 30 to July 3, 1894.

[75] By January 1886, Godfrey was both President and Treasurer, and Cecil Vice-President,[76] positions they would hold for the next several years.

[84] Brown served as attorney to George Macfarlane during the organization and incorporation of the First American Bank of Hawaii during 1899.

[92] He arrived in Hawaii on November 4, 1914[93] and suffered a second stroke on March 4, 1915, leaving his right side partially paralyzed.

[95] Although it was initially reported that Brown's condition was slowly improving,[96] by the end of 1916 his functioning had significantly deteriorated,[nb 6] and in late December 1916 the courts declared him to be "mentally non-competent", and appointed his nephew H.M. von Holt as his guardian.

[99] The following day the Territorial Senate, House, and Hawaiian Bar Association issued resolutions expressing condolences and loss.