Lear and Cordelia

16 April 1821

Born

June 1846

Elizabeth dies on the way back from Rome

Elizabeth, ill with consumption, died in Paris aged 27 on the journey from Rome back to England. She was buried on the western side of Highgate Cemetery.

1848

Meets Dante Gabriel Rossetti

The young Rossetti, who admired Brown’s early works, asked him to become his tutor; through him Brown came to know the artists of the future Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He never joined it but adopted the bright colours and realism of William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais.

1874

Death of his son Oliver, a crushing blow

Oliver (Nolly), who showed great promise as an artist and poet, died of blood poisoning at 19. It was a crushing blow for Brown, who kept a room with his son’s belongings as a shrine.

October 1890

Death of his second wife Emma

Emma Brown died. The painter outlived her by three years and died in 1893 at Primrose Hill in north London.

6 October 1893

Died