T. E. Brown (1830–1897) was brought up in Braddan, where his father was the vicar. He attended the local school before going on to King William's College and the Christ Church, Oxford. Following an outstanding early academic career, Brown then went on to devote himself to teaching and was renowned in England for his work as an educationalist. On the Isle of Man, his fame is as the island's most eminent poet whose work captured the lives and ways of the Manx people in their own dialect.

This bust was executed by Joseph W. Swynnerton for a fee of £75, from public subscriptions raised by an island committee under the chairmanship of Lord Raglan, the Lieutenant Governor. Douglas Corporation agreed to the bust being accommodated in the town hall, or public library, where it was unveiled on 9th July 1909, and from there it was removed to the Manx Museum, with the consent of Douglas Corporation, in May 1926.