William Henry Browne

William Henry Browne (13 September 1846 – 12 April 1904), known as W. H. Browne or Billy Browne, was a gold miner and member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly. Biography Browne was born in Pimlico, London, to parents William Henry Browne, a stone-sawyer, and his wife Eliza (née Barton). At age eleven he was at sea with the merchant navy, a position he held for the next nine years. He landed in Australia in 1866 and commenced gold mining at Araluen, New South Wales before working his trade at Gympie, Herberton and Croydon. It was in Croydon that he lost an eye in an accident in the mines. Unmarried, he died in office of pneumonia and angina in Brisbane in 1904 and his funeral proceeded from St John's Cathedral to the Toowong Cemetery.