Gilbert Langlois Carstairs
Gilbert Langlois Carstairs (c1871-1937)
1937 Obituary [1]
GILBERT LANGLOIS CARSTAIRS was draughtsman to Messrs. B. Laporte, Ltd., chemical manufacturers, of Luton. He served his apprenticeship from 1889 to 1892 in the locomotive shops of the Midland Railway at Kentish Town, and was subsequently engaged upon the design of hydraulic plant for the company's goods sheds. In 1896 he went to sea and eventually became chief engineer on steamships of the Royal Sovereign Steamship Company, and in 1906 was appointed to a similar position on the Cambrian and Anglian Company's steamships. He then became assistant to the marine engineering superintendent of the Port of London Authority. When the Authority decided to expend about £1,000,000 on additional dredging plant, Mr. Carstairs acted as resident inspector in the builders' yards, and later acted in a similar capacity during the construction of other craft. During the War he enlisted as engineer lieutenant in the Royal Naval Reserve and was chief engineer, first on the minesweeper Gatwick and later on the Lanark. In 1920 he joined Messrs. Laporte as engineer and draughtsman and during the next five years was engaged on a large constructional programme for the manufacture of heavy chemicals. He then went to Vancouver, B.C., as chief engineer of the Stirling Lumber Company. Shortly afterwards he became draughtsman to the Powell River Pulp and Paper Company, and was concerned with large extensions to the plant from 1927 to 1929. He rejoined Messrs. Laporte in 1933 and was associated with them until his death, which occurred at Luton on 26th August 1936, in his sixty-sixth year. He had been an Associate Member of the Institution since 1900.