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John Browning was born around 1831 in Kent, England, the city recorded variously as Bexley or Welling. His father, William Spencer Browning, was a maker of nautical instruments. It has been speculated that his shop inspired that of the character Solomon Gills, the ship's instrument maker, in the 1848 novel Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens. John Browning hailed from a long line of English instrument makers. His great-grandfather was instrument maker John Browning, brother of Samuel Browning, of

John Browning initially intended to follow the medical profession, and entered Guy's Hospital, a teaching hospital and the location of a school of medicine. Despite having passed the required examinations, however, he abandoned his plans due to ill health. Instead, he apprenticed with his father, William Spencer Browning. At the same time, in the late 1840s, he was also a student at the Royal College of Chemistry. When John Browning came of age, he joined his father in the family business. Howev

Between 1856 and 1872, Browning acquired provisional patents for designs of numerous scientific instruments. He was also the recipient of an award at the 1862 International Exhibition held in London. He was recognised for his temperature-compensated aneroid barometer. Browning's scientific instruments were used in physics, chemistry, and biology. The products he designed and manufactured included spectroscopes, telescopes, microscopes, barometers, photometers, cameras, ophthalmoscopes, and elect

John Browning was perhaps best known as the leading manufacturer of spectroscopes. His were considered to be of the highest quality in England. In 1865, he supplied photographer William Henry Fox Talbot with a custom-made spectroscope. His crafting of fine spectroscopes strengthened his connection to the field of chemistry. In April 1872, Browning exhibited one of his spectroscopes at the Royal Society, more formally known as the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge. In his 18

An astronomer, Browning was also Optical and Physical Instrument Maker to Her Majesty's Government. As such, he supplied telescopes to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. Browning also attached spectroscopes to telescopic equipment, garnering the attention of astronomical physicists J. Norman Lockyer and William Huggins. He was elected to the Royal Astronomical Society in 1865. Browning was a pioneer in the manufacture of reflecting telescopes and bringing them to the attention of astronomers. A