More to the Story – Cobalt’s First Magistrate R.H.C. Browne

Two surprises

I learned something while studying the 1907 assessment rolls for Coleman Township. Before Latchford incorporated in July of that year, property owners sent their tax payments to Coleman. Which makes sense, of course, since the “Best Ol’ Town by a Dam Site” is situated at the southwestern tip of the township. But still, it was a surprise to see the list.

I learned something else, too: a new word, “stipendiary”. As you might expect, the adjective refers to an individual who receives a stipend by way of payment.

Stipendiary Magistrate, to be precise

Included in the tax record is the landowner’s occupation. The majority of those on the Latchford rolls were labourers for the Empire Lumber Company.  There were several carpenters and merchants, and a handful of prospectors. One Postmaster, (Hugh McNeil) and one T&NO Station Agent, (Paul Hugli).

And another surprise!

One Stipendiary Magistrate, R. H. C. Browne. He owned lots 212 – 213 near the intersection of 4^th Avenue and 3^rd Street in Latchford.

R. H. C. Browne of Cobalt

I first encountered Mr. Browne while researching the life of stockbroker and mine promoter Horatio Claude Barber. The two were partners in several “projects”, including Barber’s Cobalt Open Call Mining Exchange, which opened in May 1906. Both men were directors of the company.

From the book, Airy Somethings: the Extraordinary Life of the Aviation Pioneer:

“Browne held several positions while he lived and worked in Cobalt. He was the first editor and owner of the Cobalt Nugget, a life insurance agent, and the police magistrate.

“…an active mining man, Browne held interests in several properties. In 1906, he and his partners were among the first in the area to use a diamond drill rig, a relatively new and expensive technique just introduced to the mining camp.

“In 1919, he was hospitalized for a self-inflicted axe wound when he was out prospecting in the bush near Matachewan, Ontario. He was fifty-five at the time. We have been unable to trace him prior to his time in Cobalt, or after 1919.”

Robert Henry Coulson Browne 1866 – 1935

Today, several years after the first investigation into Mr. Browne, additional resources are available. Now we know his full name, and particulars about his family, birth, and death dates. However, even though I can add a bit more to the story, his profile is sketchy, at best. As is usually the case, we have more questions than ever.

Speaking of sketchy

I cannot help wondering about Browne’s association with certain people and mine enterprises.  Horatio Barber was a fraudster. The Silver Heel and the Silver Bird mines were non-starters. The Silver Bird, especially, was a notorious wildcate mine. In 1907, promoter Frank Law was jailed for his part in similar schemes. This was one year before Browne leased the property.

See? More questions.

What we learned about the man.

Robert Henry Coulson Browne was born in 1866 in pre-confederation Ontario. Both parents, Robert Henry, and Mary Anne, nee Smith, were 24. He was the eldest of five children and had one brother and three sisters. Judging by the family’s address in the more fashionable part of Toronto, the Browne’s were probably well-off, if not wealthy.

We know nothing about his education or occupation before he arrived in Cobalt around 1906. Presumably it had something to do with law.

• March 9, 1907 – The Silver Heels Mining Company was incorporated. The main office was in Toronto, and a branch office in Cobalt. Browne was a director. According to the announcement, the mine was located near Sasaginiga Lake. By 1910, Browne was no longer associated with the company, and the Davis Handbook reported that no work had been done for some time.
• October 26, 1907 – announcement of appointment of Police Magistrate R. H. C. Browne of Cobalt – without salary. Not even a stipend? Perhaps he was paid on a case-by-case basis?
• In 1908, he leased the Silver Bird property from Samuel D. Madden In 1910, H.P. Davis wrote, The Silver Bird is one of the most notorious of the Cobalt wild cats. There is no rock exposure on the property, and while the diamond drilling may possibly locate ore, the result is very doubtful.
• January 9, 1909 – Haileybury’s police magistrate Siegfried Atkinson appointed to the same role in Cobalt, “a position which he has filled since the departure of Mr. R. H. C. Browne.” When did Browne leave the post? Why?
• When Browne’s father, R. H. Browne died in 1912, the former magistrate was reported to be “of Cobalt.” He’s still apparently in the region – did he live in Cobalt? Or Latchford, on that property he owned? Or did he live in the more fashionable comfort of the family home in Toronto and commute north as needs dictated?
• The Ottawa Journal wrote a longer account of his brush with death in 1919.

Final chapters

• In 1926, “Judge Browne” was in the Kitchener area, promoting Ontario mineral resources in general, and a coal deposit near Sudbury in particular. He left southern Ontario in November to campaign in the north, on behalf of his associates in the Ferguson government. Question: is he still working as a judge, or is he using his past title as a way to lend credibility to his words?
• From his obituary published in the Toronto Daily Star: Browne died on Tuesday, September 10, 1935. He lived at 90 Prince Aurther Avenue, Toronto. The street was located in the “Annex” – a “Blue Book”, or high society neighbourhood in the 1910s. 
• According to the death registration his occupation was “retired magistrate Cobalt” with secondary interests in mining business, also “retired.” He died of a heart attack and was almost 69 years old.

Resources and thanks

• Paperofrecord.com for the Temiskaming Speaker
• Newspapers.com for the Cobalt Daily Nugget, Toronto Star, and other publications
• Ancestry.com
• The Davis Handbook of the Cobalt Silver District 1910
• Coleman Township Archive and Chris Oslund
• Reiner Mielke for research assistance