Robert Burn
Robert Burn (1886-1951)
1953 Obituary [1]
ROBERT BURN was founder and managing director of the Precision Engineering Works, Petone, New Zealand. He was born in 1886 at South Shields, Yorkshire, and received his education at schools in Hobart and Sydney, Australia, and at the technical college in that city.
After serving an apprenticeship with the Australasian Steam Navigation Company, Ltd., from 1902 to 1907, he entered the family firm of Burn and Sons, Petone, New Zealand, engineers, and for the next five years, held positions as fitter and machinist, works foreman, and machine designer.
In 1914 he served with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in Egypt. Subsequently, he was granted a commission and was employed as experimental officer on grenades, rockets, and flares, finally being transferred to the Royal Air Force as technical and production officer for aircraft self-sealing tanks.
He founded his works at Petone in 1921, moving to Wellington in 1922, and continued in business as managing director of the successor firm, The Precision Engineering Company, Ltd., until his death, which occurred on 4th December 1951.
Mr. Burn had been a Member of the Institution since 1932.