George Langdale Whitehead O'Brian
George Langdale Whitehead O'Brian (1876-1938)
1938 Obituary [1]
GEORGE LANGDALE WHITEHEAD O'BRIAN was chief inspector of steam boilers to the Madras Presidency. He was born at Poona in 1876 and served his apprenticeship from 1892 to 1897 in the Small Arms Government Ammunition Factory at Kirkee. In the following year he entered the service of the Crown Agents for the Colonies as chief erector in connection with the building of the Uganda Railway. He returned to Kirkee in 1899 as engineer in charge of machinery at the Small Arms Factory, and during 1902-3 was engaged as chief engineer at Pondicherry Mills, after which he was appointed inspector of steam boilers and prime movers to Madras Presidency.
He was promoted to be chief inspector in 1912, and served on the board of examiners for the grant of certificates of competency. He was also mechanical adviser to the sanitary engineer of the Presidency, and was associated with several water supply and drainage schemes. In 1924 the Indian Boiler Regulations were introduced, and Mr. O'Brian was responsible for their administration in the Presidency. He was for many years a staunch believer in steam engines and plunger pumps for municipal supplies, but latterly he experimented with centrifugal pumps driven by gas engines fed from charcoal producers, and was responsible for their adoption in certain instances.
In 1931 Mr. O'Brian retired, but continued to live in India, and died in Madras on 1st June 1938. He was elected a Member of the Institution in 1923, and for many years supervised the Institution examinations held in Madras.