Paul, first regarding your post No. #9, ... I think you're right in the "wishful thinking on the part of the descendent", for the Peter Brown of Tower Hamlets, London, to me it does look like "our" guy truly was of Scandinavian descendent. And I will look into the apparently interesting piece of your post No. #10, later ... when time allows.
Below is the only additional info I have in my notes (altered into English, and now somewhat expanded, due to this thread) regarding ...
browni as in:
• the invalid "
Falco browni" SHAW 1809,
here, a k a "Brown's Hawk" or/and also, easy to misinterpret; Brown Hawk", by Latham!
[Synonymous of the Shikra
Accipiter badius GMELIN 1788 (
here)]
"Described and figured in Peter Brown's Illustrations of Zoology; ..."
[SHAW 1809]
In today's
Key we find:
browni / brownii
● Peter Brown (fl. 1790) Danish/English natural history painter and botanical illustrator (syn. Accipiter badius).
[...]
Following the OD itself takes us to
this work from 1776 , where he is a k a "Pierre Brown", in French (
here), and the illustration itself;
Le Faucon brun/The Brown Hawk (
here).
If we follow one of the (many) clues given in the Preface: "Gratitute likewise prompts me to mention the great and valuable assistance I recieved from T
HOMAS P
ENNANT Esq; of Downing in Flintshire, and Dr. J
OHN R
EINHOLD F
ORSTER, both Gentlemen well known ..." I think we could get a bit closer to the unknown "Peter Brown" (or "Pierre" ditto).
See
this piece about "
Fåglarnes Hemligheter" (The Secrets of Birds), by the Giant Swedish Author August Strindberg, from his "Blue book" (one of his most odd, and hard-to-read, titles, full of delusions), written in 1906-1907 (all in Swedish):
"Peter Brown (Bruun) norsk målare (?) berättar för samme Forster att han under skoltiden i Skien, mellan hans 6:e och 17:e år regelbundet uppfiskade svalor under isen i ett träsk, och att fåglarne kommo till liv i ett varmt rum."
... which, in English, would be something like:
"Peter Brown (Bruun) Norwegian Painter (?) told the same ["John Reinhold", i.e. the German Naturalist Johann Reinhold] Forster that he during his School years in Skien, between his 6th and 17th year regularly fished up Swallows beneath the Ice of a swamp, and that the Birds came to life [when placed] in a warm room."
Obviously, the story that "Peter Brown (Bruun)" told Forster about Swallow-fishing is complete nonsense, but it reveals that his true name might have been Bruun, and also of a possible Norwegian Heritage (Norway was a Province of Denmark in those days), and "Skien" is most likely the town by the same name (as of
here, earlier, until 1914 a k a "Scheen"). This Skien, or
Scheen (though
not "Sheen") was, in those days, as one of Norway's oldest cities, a hub for most sciences.
Also note than
brun/
bruun means brown (the colour) in most Scandinavian countries [for example; the Swedish name for the related species Brown Goshawk
Accipiter fasciatus is
brunduvhök, earlier written, in two words, as
brun duvhök, simply meaning (a)
brun/brown
duvhök/Goshawk].
To me it looks like our "Peter Brown" was a Norwegian (alt./or, in his days, Danish) guy, who'd emigrated (to London), where he possibly altered his surname into a more understandable version (!?).
If so his first, given name
could, originally, have been either Pehr or Per (a common given name), often altered into Peter
* alt.
Pierre outside Scandinavia (either way, Peter is also, as well, a very common name in Scandinavia).
Other than that, the only longer text, that I know of, about "Peter Brown" is found in
this fairly recent book
The Life of Governor Joan Gideon Loten (1710-1789): ..., by Alexander Raat (2010), see pp. 550-557 (and note that "Peter Brown" himself mentioned Mr. Loten, in the foot-note, of the very same Preface, above):
"Biographical information about natural history Painter Peter Brown is scarce. We do not know when or where he was born. Thomas Pennant tells us that he was a Dane by birth and a “very neat limner”. However, in September of 1772 Loten refers to “one Brown, born in Norway, but living in London”. Daines Barrington refers to “the ingenious painter” Peter Brown as a Norwegian, who “from the age of 6 to 17 attended a School near Scheem” [sic, ought to be Scheen, the earlier name for Skien]. The latter suggests ..."
... and onwards.
[Note: No. of Raat's various references not included in the quote above. Some of them might be worth having a closer look at?]
That´s all I´ve got. At this point I haven't tried to find any Peter (or Pehr alt. Per, or even Petrus) Brown (or Bruun) in or from Skien, Norway (or the surrounding parts of Telemark county), and I don't know if I will find time to do it.
For anyone keen on giving it a try; remember than
Bruun (or
Brun) are common surnames in Scandinavia (as common as Brown/Browne, in "English" countries), and a search for P-whatever and Bruun/Brun will (most likely) result in a myriad of different people. Thereby, some sort of close connection/link to either London, zoological illustration or the Naturalists mentioned are essential to find. And then, onwards ...
Take the above for what it's worth. Hopefully of some help.
Björn
_____________________________________________________________________________
*Similar (but the other way around!) to the name of the far more well-known, Swedish naturalist Peter Forsskål (1732–1763),
that many "Foreigners" (read; Non-Scandinavians) still believe was Pehr Forsskål, or latinized into Petrus ditto [... like, for example, James, in his HBW Alive Key ]