At eighteen he joined his brother in Saint Petersburg, Russia in a fur-trading business where they were to accumulate the sum of £20,000, only to lose most of it in an unwise speculation in bristles.

They returned to England almost penniless,[2] though Brown capitalized on his Russian experience by writing a comic opera, Narensky, or, The Road to Yaroslaf, which was produced at Drury Lane in January 1814, earning him £300 and free admission for life to this theatre.

This included handling all his affairs, paying his bills, writing his letters, even lending him money and standing as surety for a loan to him.

Brown provided Trelawny with passages from Keats's unpublished poems to be used (with others from Shelley and Byron) as chapter headings.

Fortunately, a "surgeon with a lancet and bandage in his pocket" happened to be present and immediately administered a blood-letting (the normal treatment at that time) and he appeared to sustain no permanent damage from the incident.

On 30 March 1835, Brown left Italy to return to England[12] in order to provide a better education for his son Carlino, who was talented in mathematics and wished to pursue a career in civil engineering.

[14] With what little fortune remained to him, Brown decided that they should emigrate to New Plymouth as a pioneer community to provide the best opportunities for his son Charles as a civil engineer.

[14] His son Charles emigrated on the Amelia Thompson, the first settler ship of the Plymouth Company arriving in 1841 aged 17 years old.

[19] He was buried on the slope of Marsland Hill in New Plymouth above the original St Mary's Church; the grave was marked by a slab of stone taken from the beach.

"[20] The grave, surrounded by vegetation, was painted as a site of historical interest by Taranaki artist Thelma de Lancy-Green.

On 2 April 2011 leading Keats scholar Professor Nicholas Roe from the University of St Andrews, Scotland laid a wreath on Brown's grave and discussed the friendship between the pair.

[14] The 2009 film Bright Star, written and directed by Jane Campion, focuses on Keats's relationship with Fanny Brawne.

Yet many film critics and the filmmaker herself have felt that Brown was imbued with many qualities, including loyalty and wit, and in reality there was no villain, just real life humans.

A new online edition of Brown's letters to Joseph Severn reveals that he was a complex figure with a tremendous capacity for friendship and loyalty.