Mr Thomas William Solomon Brown was born 13 July 1851 at Kuilsrivier, Western Cape to James Solomon, a storekeeper (b. 9 March 1817 in Greenwich, Kent), and Harriet (née Holloway; born about 1820 in London, England, d. 11 December 1878). He was christened on 25 August 1851 in Cape Town in the Church of England tradition. His parents had married 5 April 1846 at St. Paul's Church in Rondebosch. South Africa. They lived in Rooibloem at the time of their marriage.

Brown's known brothers and sisters included Edward William, b. 28 March 1854, John Andrew (b. 11 May 1857, d. 15 April 1908), and Elizabeth Maria Charlotte, b. 2 September 1858.

He and his first wife Gracilda Isabella (nee Willoughby; b. ca. 1853) had married 6 May 1873 at St. John’s Church in Cape Town, South Africa. Their children were William James, b. 1875 (d. 1875), Lillian Henrietta (b. 26 April 1878), Harriett Elizabeth Maria (b. 27 May 1880), Thomas Andrew Ralph (b. 18 February 1882), and Ernest Herbert Willoughby (b. 28 January 1886, d. 29 April 1914).

Isabella died in the Cape Colony in November 1889. Brown married Elizabeth Catherine Ford, 20 years his junior, on 11 August 1890 at St. Mary’s (Anglican) Church in Woodstock, Western Cape, South Africa.

Mr. Brown was listed as a storekeeper at the time of their marriage. They had two children; Edith Eileen (b. 27 October 1896), and Dorothy Beatrice (b. 9 October 1899, d. 16 October 1906).

He had been a hotel manager in South Africa but business had declined so he had decided to resettle in Seattle, Washington where his sister-in-law lived.

Mr Brown, his wife, and his daughter Edith Eileen (born 27 October 1896) boarded the Titanic at Southampton as a second class passengers. They bought ticket number 29750 for £39. 

Mother and daughter, together with two other Ladies, occupied a four-berth cabin, while Thomas Brown was accommodated in another.

After the collision, Brown placed his wife and daughter in lifeboat 14 and stepped back, just smoking a cigar and awaiting his fate.

He died in the sinking. His body, if recovered, never was identified.