Born at Lindsay, Ontario on 9 May 1891, son of John Luke Brown and Rosa Finley, he came to Manitoba in the early 20th century and, for over 20 years, made films and newsreels for industrial education and for Fox News, Pathe News, and Universal News. In the 1930s, he made promotional films for the provincial government, including trips to Norway House and West Hawk Lake (1937). During the Second World War, he was based at Montreal and he later moved to Burnaby, British Columbia where he worked as a radio repairman. He was married three times, first on 13 November 1912 to Pearl Elizabeth Beal (1894-1919) at London, Ontario with whom he had two children: John Webster Brown (1914-2001) and Marguerite Rose Brown (?-?, wife of Frank Hitchon). After his first wife’s death, he married Janet Cameron Fergusson (1884-1941) on 2 September 1922. After her death, he married Mary Mae Fulton (?-?) on 21 January 1943 at Montreal, Quebec. He died at Vancouver, British Columbia on 14 October 1978 and was buried in the Elmwood Cemetery with his second and third wives.
Birth, marriage, and death registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“Color film seizes beauty of Riding Mountain Park,” Winnipeg Tribune, 19 January 1938, page 2.
“Explains quality of Norway House film,” Winnipeg Tribune, 29 January 1938, page 7.
Obituary [Janet Cameron Brown], Winnipeg Tribune, 31 July 1941, page 24.
“Brown - Fulton,” Winnipeg Free Press, 5 February 1943, page 8.
Death registration, British Columbia Vital Statistics.
Percy Finley Brown, Ancestry.
Obituaries and burial transcriptions, Manitoba Genealogical Society.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 31 March 2019
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