George Forrest Browne
4 December 1833 -
1930

Family

He was the elder son of George Browne, proctor of the ecclesiastical court at York, and Anne, daughter of Rev. Robert Forrest. In 1865 he married Mary Louisa Richardson, by whom, before her death in 1903, he had two sons and three daughters.

Education

He was educated under Henry Philpott, then master of St. Catherine's Hall, Cambridge, from which he graduated in 1856. Afterwards, he worked as a schoolmaster at Trinity College, Glenalmond. In 1863 he was made fellow and assistant tutor of St. Catherine's. In 1871 he was appointed secretary of the Local Examination Syndicate, and from 1877 to 1881 he served on the University Commission. In 1887 he was elected to the professorship of archaeology at Cambridge and, having previously surrendered his fellowship in order to marry, was now made an honorary fellow of St. Catherine's. In 1891 he received the honorary D.C.L. degree from Durham University. He was granted a D.D. from Cambridge in 1895. In 1903 he was given a foundational fellowship in the British Academy. Two years later, he received the D.D. from Oxford.

Church Appointments and Service

He was ordained in 1858, and in 1867 was appointed to the chaplancy of St. Catherine's. From 1869 to 1875, he held the living of Ashley-cum-Silverley, Cambridgeshire. In 1891 he was appointed canon of St. Paul's Cathedral, and two years later became secretary to the London Diocesan Home Mission. In 1895 he was made suffragan bishop of Stepney, and in 1897 was translated to the See of Bristol, from which he resigned in 1914.

Noteworthy Publications

In addition to being the first editor of the Cambridge University Reporter, Browne published numerous works on archaeological subjects. His theological and historical works include The Venerable Bede (1879), The Church in These Islands before Augustine (1894), Augustine and His Companions (1895), The Conversion of the Heptarchy, Theodore and Wilfrith (1897), and Boniface of Crediton (1905).

Footnote

"His versatility was remarkable; archaeology and history were to him a source of great pleasure." He "was popular, successful, and happy. . . . He won all hearts by his courtesy, sympathy, and lively personality." -- DNB 1922-30: 125-26