Biography

Family background

Alan was the son of William Wilkinson Brown and his wife, Eliza Emma Brown (nee Elliott). William and Eliza had married on the 25th December 1897 at St.Clement Church, Sheepscar, Leeds. At that time William gave his address as being in Morecombe and his occupation as a manager. William and Eliza started a family and according to later records (the 1911 census) had five children of whom only two had survived until 1911. Those two children were Edward William Elliott Brown and Alan Elliott Brown [note that the spelling of Elliott is sometimes found as Eliott and that of Alan sometimes as Allan]. Edward was born in 1898 and Alan on the 14th November 1899. The family may have made their homes close to Morecombe at that time or they may have visited briefly but both boys were baptised at St. Barnabus Church in Morecombe on the same day, the 31st May 1900. Their father gave his occupation at the time as a grocer of Leeds.

From the records we have found it appears that William was changing occupations around this time and the family were also moving. By the date of the 1901 census, Edward William Elliott Brown, Alan Elliott Brown and their mother Eliza Emma Brown were living at 96 Bankside Street in Potter Newton Leeds. They formed part of a larger household headed by Eliza E Bond aged 63, a music book dealer from Leeds. This entry is difficult to read and the surname is uncertain - confusing as well the head of this household shared Christian names with William Wilkinson Brown's wife. Also present were Eliza "Bond's" son, John William Brown aged 40, also a music dealer; Eliza E Brown (William Wilkinson's wife), aged 31, and the two children, Edward WE Brown, aged 2 and Allan E Brown, aged 1. Edward G Brown, aged 27, a professor of violin music and two domestic servants completed the household. It is clear that the Elliott family were very musical, and William and Eliza moved into occupations in the music business.

By 1911, William and Eliza had moved to live at 11 Elford Terrace in Harehills in Leeds. William now gave his occupation as a music seller. His wife Eliza was 41, Edward was 12, and Alan 11. William Elliott Brown, aged 50, a single man who worked as a music seller's assistant was also living there and we think this may be the John William Brown aged 40 in the 1901 census.

Allan's brother Edward served during the Great War and the family settled in Collingham in the 1920s. From 1920 to 1924 they are listed on the electoral rolls of Collingham: Alan Eliott Brown at Harewood Road; Edward William Elliott Brown at Collingham and Eliza Emma Brown and William Brown at Langwith. The 1921 census reveals the family living at Harewood Road, Collingham. William is the head of the household and was still a music seller. Eliza Emma was a music seller's assistant. Edward William Elliott Brown gave his occupation as a clerk, while Allan Elliott Brown was listed as a wireless transmitter operator, out of work. They had a housekeeper, Elizabeth Hariett Harrison.

In the early 1930s, the family lived around Collingham and Harewood. In 1930 to 1932 Eliza Emma, William and Alan Elliott Brown were at Primrose Cottage, Collingham and then from 1933 to 1935 they were joined by Lucy Brown and Marjory Brown at Wetherby Road, Harewood.

Service record

The 1939 National Registration for Collingham shows that Allan was living at 5 Garth End, Collingham with Fred and Eliza E B Campbell and Jenny Campbell. Eliza Campbell's date of birth is given as 15th September 1869 so we can identify her as being Allan's grandmother Eliza E Brown, who had been widowed and had remarried in the Wetherby district in 1937. Allan was described as a Local Government clerk but also a member of the Merchant Navy Reserve, with a General Shipping Register number of MWS 29083. It was as a merchant seaman that Allan served in World War 2.

At present we do not have many details of Alan's war service, but a newspaper article published in the war gives some details:

We don't know which ships Allan Brown sailed with or any details of where he sailed but we can start trying to tie down some service armed with the clue that Allan had first seen Russia in November 1941 when his ship followed an icebreaker into Archangel. We can find that four possible Arctic convoys arrived in Archangel around that time. They were convoy PQ2 (6 merchant ships arrived Archangel 30 October 1941), PQ3 (8 merchant ships arrived Archangel 22 November 1941), PQ4 (8 merchant ships arrived Archangel 28 November 1941) and PQ5 (5 merchant ships arrived Archangel 13 December 1941). If the newspaper article is strictly accurate the first and last of these convoys would be either too early or too late, but notes on PQ5 make it clear that the convoy followed ice breakers into Archangel. The list of possible ships on which Allan Brown arrived in Russia are therefore:

After the war

Alan Elliott Brown's name appears on the 1946 electoral roll for Collingham living at 5 Garth End, Collingham. We have found that a man named Alan Elliott Brown married Irene Pickles at the start of 1948 and this Alan and Irene lived at a riding school in Aske, Richmond from 1949 to about 1965. After that they appear to have lived at 4 Oxclose Cottages Saltburn. Alan Elliott Brown died in 1970.

Biography last updated 19 April 2026 14:48:47.