Browne, George Baxter (1787–1879), soldier and police officer, was born 19 December 1787, second son among three sons and two daughters of George Browne, merchant at Liverpool, and Felicity Browne (née Wagner) of North Hall, near Wigan, Lancashire, daughter of the Austrian and Tuscan consul. The poet Felicia Hemans (1793–1835) was Browne's sister; his brother became Lt-gen. Sir Thomas Henry Browne; and his grandfather was George Browne of Passage West, Co. Cork. From 1800 the family lived in north Wales. Browne served in the British army in the Peninsular campaigns, was wounded twice at Roncesvalles (1813) as a subaltern in the 37th Foot, and went on half-pay (1826) as a captain, with a medal clasp for each of six major battles. By 16 August 1828 he was appointed chief constable and paymaster in the Leinster constabulary, and was stationed in Kilkenny, where the provincial inspector general, Sir John Harvey, resided. Within a month Browne was promoted to county-officer status, and in 1830 he further impressed Harvey with his conduct of affairs during the inspector general's illness.
Appointed a stipendiary magistrate on 25 May 1831, he served throughout the ‘tithe war’, and became (1 July 1837) one of the two commissioners of the new Dublin Metropolitan Police, which he praised as ‘one of the most noble corps that was ever seen anywhere’ (quoted in Palmer). His control of admissions, discipline, and operations for two decades helped to form its character as an unarmed civil force comparable to its London equivalent. Browne retired in 1858 as CB and lieutenant-colonel, in the aftermath of a clash (12 March 1858) between police and TCD students on the occasion of the return to Dublin of the earl of Eglinton as lord lieutenant. He died 12 July 1879 at Clifton Gardens, Folkestone, Kent.
He married first Harriet Anne (d. 1858), daughter of Martin Whish, chairman of the board of excise commissioners; his second wife was a daughter of the Rev. C. Irwin, and widow of James Patterson. The dates of both marriages and the Christian name of his second wife are unknown.