He attended Uppingham School before earning a scholarship to Oriel College, Oxford in 1869; graduating with degrees in classics in 1871 and literae humaniores (humanities) in 1873.
[3] In Edinburgh he lived initially at 3 Grosvenor Street in the west of the city[4] before moving to 50 George Square.
[8] The book came to the attention of Sir John Sinclair, Secretary for Scotland, and led to the establishment in February 1908 of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (on which Brown served as one of the first Commissioners), followed by equivalent Royal Commissions for Wales and England.
A bust, sculpted by Pilkington Jackson is held in the Edinburgh University Art Collection[11] and an etching of Brown by William Brassey Hole is in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery, London,[12] the National Galleries of Scotland[13] and the British Museum; the latter institute also holds a number of artefacts donated by Professor Brown.
Brown bequeathed his collection of c.1000 books on fine art and archaeology to Edinburgh University Library.