John married Catherine Cook at St John's Church Napier in 1880. They would have four sons.
After Catherine died from peritonitis in 1891 he married Violet Bogle in 1894 at St John's Cathedral. There were no children from his second marriage.
John would become manager of Neal and Close, a successful merchant firm in Napier.
He would later involve himself in his own business enterprises, including his own merchant firm, brewing, and soap-manufacturing businesses.
While an MP in 1913, soap became a topical issue for him when he discovered in the Parliament toilets a cake of soap made in America. John thought this most unpatriotic.
The Hastings newspaper the Hastings Standard made some fun of this by saying when he discovered the soap that "his better nature rose triumphantly to the top and as no one stood by him in his hour of need he transferred the soap to his tail-coat pocket and sallied forth [to Parliament] with the light of a new-born purpose, and the curl of determination in his side whiskers".
As he made his speech to Parliament on the matter of the American soap, the Hastings Standard said "the cook in Bellamy's could be heard singing Rule Britannia as he prepared the evening meal".
John asked Prime Minister William Massey which soap Parliament used. The PM replied it was all New Zealand-made.
Pulling the made-in-New-York Colgate soap from his pocket, John said that was not true.
The PM asked: "Where did you get that soap?"
"In the place where we wash" said John.
"Well," said the PM, "that is probably the property of some member of the House and you had better put it back."
During his time as mayor of Napier, much advancement was made.
He was a supporter of the breakwater harbour, and being a member of both the Napier Harbour Board and Napier Borough Council, was able to advance this cause over the Ahuriri inner harbour.
He was so popular in Napier that, in 1914, every councillor signed his nomination form for re-election.
The salt-water baths, children's paddling pools (now where Ocean Spa is), the municipal theatre (1912), electric tramway and improved parks were all completed during his terms as mayor.
While most of them are no longer with us, they were all major projects at the time and part of Napier's growth.
Perhaps his greatest achievement was as mayor of Napier in 1931, when at the age of 76 he guided Napier through the aftermath of New Zealand's greatest natural disaster, the Hawke's Bay earthquake.
"The Napier of the future will be far finer than that of the past" remarked John after the earthquake.
How true that proved to be, and Napier today is internationally recognised for its Art Deco heritage dating from his period as mayor.
Vigor Brown St is named for him.
• Michael Fowler's books A Collage of History: Hastings, Havelock North and Napier and From Disaster to Recovery: The Hastings CBD 1931-35 are available at Whitcoulls, Hastings and Napier; Napier i-SITE; Plaza Books, Hastings; Beattie and Forbes, Ahuriri; Art Deco Trust Napier; Wardini Havelock North and Napier; Hastings, Taradale and Napier Paper Plus and Poppies Havelock North.
• Michael Fowler (mfhistory@gmail.com) is the heritage officer at the Art Deco Trust.