Terence O'Brien (colonial Governor)

Terence O'Brien (colonial Governor)

Sir John Terence Nicholls O'Brien (23 April 1830 – 28 February 1903) was a surveyor, engineer and colonial governor, born in Manchester, England and died in London, England.

He studied at Elizabeth College, Guernsey, and then attended Royal Military College, Sandhurst.

O'Brien, a British Army officer, received a medal of honour for his service in the Indian Mutiny War. In 1881 he was appointed governor of Heligoland, knighted in 1888 and became governor of Newfoundland in 1889.

O'Brien as governor of Newfoundland helped precipitate the 1894 bank crash by his many dispatches to London noting that Newfoundland politicians under Premier William Whiteway's Liberal Government were uniquely corrupt and incompetent. He resigned from office in 1895 and returned to London.

The Newfoundland community of Terenceville was so named in his honour. O'Brien's son, Sir Charles O'Brien, also became a colonial governor.

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