James Sandford Gander
James Sandford Gander (1883-1946)
1947 Obituary [1]
"JAMES SANDFORD GANDER, who was born in London on 5th October 1883, received his technical education at the East London College and at the Northern Polytechnic.
On the conclusion of an apprenticeship with Messrs. Caird and Rayner, Ltd., engineers and contractors, of London, he obtained an appointment as estimating engineer to Messrs. J. I. Thornycroft and Company, Ltd., at Basingstoke. Subsequently he took service with the Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company, Ltd., and sailed at sea as marine engineer, rising to the position of chief engineer. During this period he obtained his first-class Board of Trade Certificate. He also acted as junior engineer to the assistant superintendent of the Anglo-Saxon Oil Company in Canada.
During the war of 1914-18 he was chief engineer on oiler transports and was granted a commission in the R.N.R., with the rank of lieutenant. His next appointment was that of resident inspector for the London County Council in the Nottingham district, which he relinquished in 1924 to become resident engineer to Messrs. Barclay, Perkins, and Company, Ltd., brewers, London. Three years later he joined the Silvertown Lubricants Company, Ltd., as engineer and assistant works manager, but after a year's experience he retired into private life and for the remainder of his career was chiefly engaged in contributing articles to the technical press. He also became interested in the development of a coal-oil mixture burner and was the author of a book entitled "Oil Fuel Burning at Sea and on Land". In 1939 he rejoined the Merchant Navy and twice suffered the unfortunate experience of his ship being mined. Mr. Gander, whose death occurred at Rosario, Argentina, on 14th December 1946, was elected a Member of the Institution in 1926. He was also a founder-member of the Institute of Fuel and a member of council of that body."