August 1856 to (unsuccessfully) contest the superintendency. He contested a 17 May 1858 by-election against Dillon Bell in the Grey and Bell electorate. Brown and Bell received 75 and 61 votes, respectively. Brown was thus declared elected. He resigned in 1860, when his militia service required his full attention. He later served in the 3rd New Zealand Parliament as representative for the Town of New Plymouth electorate from 1864 to 1865, and in the 4th New Zealand Parliament as representative for the Omata electorate from 1868 to 1870. He was Colonial Treasurer (forerunner to the modern Minister of Finance) in the first Fox Ministry under Premier William Fox. With three others, Brown contested the New Plymouth electorate in the , but he came last. Later life Later in life, Charles served the community of New Plymouth as a Maori interpreter, having learned the language and customs of the Maori people over his long life in New Plymouth. In the 1890s, Brown donated memorabilia of John Keats to the Keats House museum. Some he had inherited from his father, Keats' friend Charles Armitage Brown, while others were obtained from Keats' relatives and friends and their descendants with whom the Brown family remained in contact over the years. His descendants continued to donate Keats memorabilia over the years. In 1901, aged 81, he stepped back into the path of a train in New Plymouth while crossing the main street of the town and was killed. The death of such a local celebrity, which was witnessed by many citizens, led to the relocation of the railway line. Like his father, he was buried on Marsland Hill. His headstone names him as Charles Keats Brown. Popular culture Charles Brown featured in the 2009 film Bright Star, written and directed by Jane Campion which focuses on the final years of John Keats' life and his relationship with Fanny Brawne and Charles's father Charles Armitage Brown. In the film, Charles Armitage Brown (played by actor Paul Schneider) is presented as close to "a villain, a cynical boor who knocks up his housemaid (Antonia Campbell-Hughes) and banishes Fanny so the boys can work on their plays and poems". Abigail, the pregnant housemaid in the movie was presumably intended to represent Abigail O'Donohue, Charles Brown's mother. In one scene, Abigail shows off her baby to the Brawne family. External links "Half portrait of Charles ‘Carlino’ Brown, aged six,"