text: Based on census and marriage records, John Browning married at least three times. In 1871, Browning lived in Richmond, Surrey with three unmarried sisters. Browning is identified as married, but no wife or child is recorded. His occupation is identified as "optician, master (employing 61 workpeople)." On 18 February 1874, a widowed Browning married widow Charlotte Hotten, née Stringer, at St Marys Church in Lewisham, Kent. His wife Charlotte, a resident of Lewisham, was the daughter of William Stringer. Brownings father was recorded as William Browning (deceased). Both his occupation and that of his father were listed as optician. In 1881, John Browning was in residence at Croydon in Surrey. He lived with his wife Charlotte, sister Emma, and daughter Maria Browning, as well as stepdaughters Florence and Gertrude Hotten. John Browning's profession was listed as "master optician employing 20 men." He was widowed in 1888, his wife Charlotte dying on 13 March 1888 in Croydon.
  Widower John Browning remarried on 24 July 1890 at the Holy Trinity Church, Clapham, on Clapham Common London, at the time recorded as Surrey. He married Annie Woolley, a spinster whose place of birth and residence at the time of their marriage was Chapel Hill in Monmouthshire, Wales. She was the daughter of Josiah Woolley, a licensed victualler, and his wife Harriet Woolley. Her age was listed as 25 years old, thirty years younger than that recorded for her husband. Their marriage record and John Brownings death record are most probably responsible for the difference in dates of birth cited for John Browning in a variety of publications. The marriage record suggests that he was born around 1835, with a given age of 55 at marriage, while his death record suggests that his birth occurred about 1831. Brownings father was listed as William Browning (deceased), with his profession that of optician. John Browning's occupation was also listed as optician. In 1891, the year following their marriage, John and Annie Browning resided in Clapham, with his profession again recorded as optician. The Church of Holy Trinity, Clapham was added to the National Heritage List for England on 14 July 1955 as a Grade II* listed building.