[1] Brownsey studied botany at the University of Leeds under Irene Manton, one of the rare female professors teaching there in the 1960s.

The Botany Department at Leeds was strong in fern systematics, and lecturers Arthur Sledge and John Lovis were both familiar with the New Zealand flora.

Shortly after completing his PhD thesis on European Asplenium in 1973,[2] Brownsey with his wife Wendy (whom he had married in 1971) moved to Wellington to take up a post-doctoral fellowship at Victoria University.

[4] A stamp collector from an early age, Brownsey was asked to curate the National Museum's then-small philately collection not long after his appointment.

Later, the museum accessioned the archives of the former New Zealand Post Office, along with a sizeable stamp collection sufficiently large to require a full-time curator.