George Richard Drummond
George Richard Drummond (1876-1926)
1926 Obituary [1]
GEORGE RICHARD DRUMMOND was born in 1876.
His general education was obtained at the Roan School (Greenwich), Margate College, and King's College.
He received his technical training from 1895 to 1900 with Messrs. Siemens Brothers, of Woolwich, and during the same period attended night classes at Finsbury Technical College. While with Messrs. Siemens he passed through the instrument shops, cable-testing room, dynamo department and calibrating and testing room. For a short time before he left Messrs. Siemens he was in charge of their lighting and power station.
In 1900 he went as senior charge engineer to the Leyton and Leytonstone electricity works, where he remained for two years.
In 1903 he went to India as the electrical engineer to the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway, for whom he put down and ran two d.c. central stations.
From 1904 to 1913 he occupied the position of electrical and mechanical engineer to Bikaner State. During this period he prepared and installed a three-phase h.t. lighting and power transmission scheme, including five substations. He also installed a complete telephone scheme for Bikaner capital. He had complete charge of the Bikaner waterworks, including four complete pumping stations, two being electric and two steam.
In 1908 he was appointed by the Maharajah of Gwalior consulting engineer to Gwalior State, for whom he prepared a three-phase h.t. transmission scheme with substations. He later went to the State of Jodhpur, where he designed and installed a new power house and equipment on modern lines.
In 1916 he was appointed chief electrical engineer to the Lahore Electric Supply Co., where he remained for some years. During that time he drew up designs for the complete reorganization of the Lahore Company's system, and although the war and financial difficulties prevented Mr. Drummond himself from carrying out the work he had designed, it has been done since by others.
During the period 1916-1921 he also acted as consulting engineer to the Jullundur Electrical Syndicate and the Sialkote Electrical Syndicate.
He left Lahore in 1921 and, after some years' absence from the North of India, returned in 1925 to take up the position of electrical engineer to the Amritsar municipality, for whom he was engaged at the time of his death, in drawing up designs for the extension of their plant and system. He was never a purely station engineer, and found himself unable to remain in any position which merely required administrative duties from day to day. He was full of energy and was always looking for an outlet for this in positions where new works or reorganization were required. During his life in Northern India he acted as consultant on many occasions for Indian States and others requiring technical help and advice. After so many years of energetic life on the plains of India, in climates and under conditions trying to even the strongest, he found another hot season on the Punjab plains too trying for him.
He died at Rawal Pindi from heat stroke on the 12th July, 1926, while on his way to the hills to recuperate.