Colin Chalmers Brown was born on 28 December 1926 at Leatherhead, Surrey. After the Second World War, he was commissioned in the Royal Engineers, training in survey. In 1947, he transferred from the Army to the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey (FIDS), serving for two years at Base E, Marguerite Bay. He participated in several sledging journeys and was responsible for surveying the southern end of Marguerite Bay, including King George VI Sound south to Ablation Point. Cape Brown is named for him.
Returning to Britain in 1950, Brown assisted Vivian Fuchs in establishing the Falkland Islands Dependencies Scientific Bureau in London, after which he studied aeronautical engineering for two years. In 1955, he joined Hunting Surveys Ltd and served as surveyor with the Falkland Islands Dependencies Aerial Survey Expedition [FIDASE], 1955-1957 (leader Peter Mott). FIDASE surveyed the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula area south to the Loubet Coast.
Brown remained with Hunting Surveys until his retirement, serving as expedition manager to five survey expeditions in Ethiopia, Iran, Libya, Malaya and Algeria between 1957 and 1965. In 1966, he was appointed deputy chief surveyor, and while on an expedition in Liberia in 1969, he contracted cerebral malaria that forced his early retirement. Despite his illness, he became an external examiner for the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and was appointed a fellow in 1982. He died on 25 June 1997.
From the guide to the Colin Brown collection, 1934-1937, (Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge)
