David Brown (East India Company chaplain)
David Brown (1763–1812) was an English chaplain in Bengal and founder of the Calcutta Bible Society. Life He was born in Yorkshire, and was educated first under private tuition at Scarborough, and then at a grammar school at Hull under Joseph Milner. He entered Magdalene College, Cambridge in 1782 as a sizar. Brown did not take a degree, but was ordained deacon in the Church of England in 1785, by Richard Watson. He was appointed to a chaplaincy in Bengal. Brown reached Calcutta in 1786, and was placed in charge of an orphanage. At the same time he was appointed chaplain to the brigade at Fort William. In addition to these duties Brown took charge of the Old Mission Church of Calcutta. That year he met Charles Grant, and put together a "Proposal for Establishing a Protestant Mission in Bengal". It was passed to Charles Simeon, and then to William Wilberforce. Grant returned to Great Britain, and recruitment of evangelical chaplains for India got under way. In 1788 Brown gave up the orphanage position, incompatible with his work as pastor at the Old Mission Church, founded by John Kiernander. In 1794 Brown was appointed presidency chaplain. Among his close friends