[4] On arrival at the Swan River Colony, Brown went to York, where, after a month staying at Yangedine, in June 1841 he purchased a 7,000-acre (2,800 ha) farm called Grass Dale from Revett Henry Bland for £1,500, of which £500 was lent back.
In July 1841 he accepted a position as assistant government surveyor with a salary of £300 a year, leaving Thomas Fruin to look after the farm,[6] but the work took him away from his property too much, and he resigned in January 1842.
Apart from there being "no known poison" the reason why the Browns and others went to Champion Bay was explained in a letter from Eliza to her father, William Bussey: The settled districts are at present over-fed and will not bring either sheep or cattle to any profitable size, nothing in fact can be fattened properly about the homesteads.
[14]Brown himself said in another letter: ....it was advisable to remove the greater part of the stock for a year at least as the York and Toodyay districts have been overstocked and the land requires rest for the feed to revoedr itself, which you see has been the result of such a proceeding in New South Wales.
As Brown was committed to moving to Champion Bay, he stated his intention to decline the nomination, but was persuaded by Governor Captain Charles Fitzgerald to sit for the remainder of the session.
In the governor's address to the new Legislative Council, Fitzgerald stated that he considered the new Members, Brown, Marshall Waller Clifton and Lionel Samson, to represent their districts.
Once again Brown prepared to relocate to Glengarry, but in October 1851 he was appointed acting police magistrate in Fremantle,[d] during the absence of Thomas Yule.
Brown accepted the position and moved his family to Fremantle, leaving Glengarry in the hands of his eldest son Kenneth.