George Harlowe Sumner (1853-1895)
1896 Obituary [1]
GEORGE HARLOWE SUMNER, second son of the late Dr. William Allen Sumner, was born at St. John’s Wood, London, on the 7th March, 1853.
When not yet fifteen he went to Brazil as an apprentice under Mr. A. F. Wilson in the service of the Para Gas Company. He went through the various grades in that Company, until he became Manager in 1879, which position he held for five years. He then started in Para on his own account as a mechanical and consulting engineer, and succeeded in obtaining several contracts from the Brazilian Government.
Mr. Sumner died at sea on the 14th November, 1895, from beri-beri, a disease prevalent in Brazil, somewhat of a paralytic character, accompanied by swelling of the limbs. He had undertaken a voyage from Para to Ceara in the hope that change and sea-air would effect a cure. Mr. Sumner was a Freemason and held the post of Provincial Grand Master at Para.
He was elected an Associate on the 4th February, 1879.