Tom Brown (satirist)

Tom Brown
Born	1662
Died	18 June 1704 (aged 41)
Nationality	English
Occupation	satirist

Thomas Brown (1662 – 18 June 1704), also known as Tom Brown, was an English translator and writer of satire, largely forgotten today save for a four-line gibe he wrote concerning Dr John Fell.

Brown was born at either Shifnal or Newport in Shropshire; he is identified with the Thomas Brown, son of William and Dorothy Brown, who was recorded christened on 1 January 1663 at Newport. His father, a farmer and tanner, died when Thomas was eight years old. He took advantage of the free schooling offered in the county during his day by attending Adams' Grammar School at Newport, afterward continuing his education at Christ Church, Oxford and there meeting the college's dean, Dr Fell.

Fell was well known as a disciplinarian, and Brown throughout his life displayed a disdain for restrictions. The legend behind Brown's most recognised work is therefore plausible: it states that Brown got into trouble while at Oxford, and was threatened with expulsion, but that Dr Fell offered to spare Brown if he could translate an epigram from Martial (I, 32, 1):

According to the story, Brown replied immediately:

Fell is said to have stayed Brown's dismissal from the college in admiration of this translation. However the story is of apocryphal provenance, and it is known that Brown left Christ Church without a degree, moving to Kingston upon Thames where he stayed three years as a schoolmaster, and later to London, where he took up residence on Aldersgate Street in the Grub Street district.

Brown made a modest living from his writing in Latin, French and English, in addition to offering services of translation. He refrained however from ever attaching himself to a patron, and expressed contempt toward those who did so. He pursued a libertine lifestyle, and his satirical works gained him several enemies in their subjects.

His best-known works, apart from the quatrain, are probably Amusements Serious and Comical, calculated for the Meridian of London (1700) and Letters from the Dead to the Living (1702), although his writings were quite prolific. Several works of the period whose author is unknown are suspected to be his.

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