Monarch Queen Victoria Rank Major general | Allegiance United Kingdom Service/branch British Army | |
Preceded by Charles Justin MacCarthy Preceded by Henry Frederick Lockyer Full Name John Terence Nicholls O'Brien Commands General Officer Commanding, Ceylon Died 28 February 1903, London, United Kingdom Succeeded by Hercules Robinson, 1st Baron Rosmead Books Essays on Teaching English as a Second Language, An Introduction to TESOL Education Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Elizabeth College, Guernsey | ||
Major General Sir John Terence Nicholls O'Brien CMG (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 the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.
O'Brien, a British Army officer, received a medal of honour for his service in the Indian Mutiny War. He was appointed acting Governor of British Ceylon in 1863 and held the office for two years, succeeding Charles Justin MacCarthy.
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.