Francis Browne

Francis Patrick Mary Browne MC & Bar SJ (January 3, 1880 – July 7, 1960) was a distinguished member of the Jesuit order in Ireland and an avid photographer. He is best known for his photographs of the RMS "Titanic" taken shortly before its sinking in 1912.

Early life

Francis Browne was born in 1880 in Cork, Ireland, the youngest of the eight children of James Browne and Brigid Browne (née Hegarty). His mother, the daughter of Lord Mayor of Cork James Hegarty, died of puerperal fever eight days after Francis's birth. After the death of his father in a swimming accident at Crosshaven on the 2 September 1889, Browne was raised and supported by his uncle, Robert Browne, Bishop of Cloyne, who bought him his first camera shortly before the younger man embarked on a tour of Europe in 1897. Browne was educated at the elite private secondary school, Belvedere College.

Upon his return to Ireland, Browne joined the Jesuits and spent two years in the novitiate. He then attended Royal University in Dublin where he was a classmate of James Joyce, who featured him as "Mr Browne the Jesuit" in Finnegans Wake. He then studied theology at the Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy in Dublin from 1911 to 1916. It was during this period that he received a present from his uncle; passage on the RMS "Titanic" from Southampton, England to Cork.

Aboard the "Titanic"

Browne travelled to Southampton via Liverpool and London, boarding the Titanic on the afternoon of April 10, 1912 in the company of the Lenox-Coyningham and Odell families. He was booked in cabin no. A24 on the Promenade Deck. Browne took dozens of photographs of life aboard "Titanic" on that day and the next morning; he shot pictures of the gymnasium, the Marconi room, the first-class dining saloon, his own cabin, and of passengers enjoying walks on the Promenade and Boat decks. He also captured the last known images of many crew and passengers, including Captain Edward J. Smith, gymnasium manager T.W. McCrawley, engineer William Parr, Major Archibald Butt, and numerous third-class passengers whose names are unknown.

During his voyage on the "Titanic", Browne was befriended by an American millionaire couple who were seated at his table in the liner's first-class dining saloon. They offered to pay his way to New York and back in return for Browne spending the voyage to New York in their company. Browne telegraphed his superior requesting permission, but the reply was an unambiguous "GET OFF THAT SHIP - PROVINCIAL". By a quirk of fate, the denial probably saved his life; few men in first class survived the sinking.

Browne left the "Titanic" and returned to Dublin to continue his theological studies. When the news of the ship's sinking reached him, he realized that his photos would be of great interest, and he negotiated their sale to various newspapers and news cartels. They appeared in publications around the world. Browne retained the negatives.

Although his photographs have been described as the "Titanic Album of Father Browne" and books about the photographs have been published in many languages which describe Brown as a priest, Browne had not yet been ordained at the time he photographed the "Titanic".

Later life

After his ordination as a Roman Catholic priest on July 31 1915, the 35-year-old Browne travelled to Europe to join the Irish Guards as a chaplain. He served with the Guards until the spring of 1920. He served at the Battle of the Somme and at Locre, Wytschaete, Messines Ridge, Paschendaele, Ypres, Amiens and Arras in Flanders. He was injured five times during his war service, once severely in a gas attack, and was awarded the Military Cross and Bar for his valour in combat. Browne took many photographs during his time in Europe; one, which he called "Watch on the Rhine", is considered a classic World War I war photograph. He collected his war photographs in an album named "Watch on the Rhine" after his most famous photograph and distributed copies to his colleagues in the Guards.

After the war Father Browne returned to Ireland; in 1922 he was appointed superior of Gardiner Street Church in Dublin. Ill health dogged him, however; in 1924 it was thought that he would recover more quickly in warmer climes, and he was sent on an extended visit to Australia. He brought his camera along, photographing life aboard ship and in Cape Town, South Africa, where he broke his voyage. Browne's photographs from Australia covered a cross-section of life in the continent; he took pictures of farms, ranches, industries, new immigrants, and members of Irish religious orders who lived in Australia. On his way back to Ireland he visited Ceylon, Aden, Suez, Saloniki, Naples, Toulon, Gibraltar, Algeciras, and Lisbon, taking photographs of local life and events at every stop. It is estimated that Browne took over 42,000 photographs during his life.

Father Browne became the Superior of St. Xavier's Church in Dublin upon his return. In 1929 he was appointed to the Retreats and Mission staff of the Irish Jesuits. His work entailed preaching at missions and religious retreats all over Ireland; as most of this work was necessarily performed on evenings and Sundays, he had considerable time to indulge in his hobby during the daytime. He took photographs of nearly every parish and town in Ireland, and also photographed much of London and East Anglia during his Church-related travels to England.

Francis Browne died in Dublin in 1960 and was buried in the Jesuit plot in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin. His negatives lay forgotten for 25 years after his death; they were only found by chance when Father Edward E. O'Donnell, SJ, found them in a large metal trunk once belonging to Browne. O'Donnell brought the negatives to the attention of the features editor of The Sunday Times of London. The amazed editor called them "the photographic equivalent to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls".

The Irish Jesuit order, the owner of the negatives pursuant to Father Browne's will, engaged photographic restoration specialists David and Edwin Davison to attempt to preserve and catalogue the fragile and unstable negatives. The Davisons made copies of every negative and eventually also transferred every usable image to a computerized format for the edification and enjoyment of future generations.

Father O'Donnell has authored numerous books containing Browne's photographs on behalf of the Irish Jesuit order.

References

*"Father Browne's Titanic Album: A Passenger's Photographs and Personal Memoir" by Browne, Francis M. and E.E. O'Donnell; Wolfhound Press, 1996; ISBN 0-86327-598-2
*"Father Browne's Australia" by Browne and O'Donnell; Wolfhound Press, 1996; ISBN 0-86327-443-9
*"Father Browne: A Life in Pictures" by Browne and O'Donnell; Irish American Book Company, 1997; ISBN 0-86327-436-6
* "Titanic: Triumph and Tragedy" by John P. Eaton and Charles A. Haas; W.W. Newton & Company, 2nd edition 1995; ISBN 0-393-03697-9

External links

*http://www.fatherbrowne.com
*http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org