Westgarth Forster Brown died in Newcastle-on-Tyne, following an operation, on July 16th, 1943, at the age of 75.
Apprenticed in 1885 to the late John Daglish, he spent three years at collieries in Durham, Yorkshire, and South Wales, and attended mining courses at Armstrong College, Newcastle.
In 1888 he was engaged by Messrs. Forster Brown & Rees to visit and report on mines in New Zealand, and was later placed in charge of sinking in the Newcastle district of New South Wales. From 1892 to 1895 he was an assistant to Messrs. Forster Brown & Rees, becoming a partner in the firm in the latter year, and continuing in practice until his death. In 1903 he was appointed Chief Mineral Surveyor to H.M. Office of Woods and Forests, and in subsequent years was given other Crown appointments. He was Deputy Gaveller of Dean Forest, Chief Mineral Adviser to the Duchy of Cornwall, and Chief Mineral Inspector to the Commissioners of Crown Lands. For his many services he was created a C.B.E. in 1939.
Mr. Forster Brown was one of the original members of the Board of Governors of the late Mineral Resources Bureau, and on the amalgamation of that body with the Imperial Institute he became an active member of the Institute’s Advisory Council on Minerals, on which he served until the end of 1942. He was elected a Member of the Institution in 1920.
Vol. 53, Trans IMM 1943-4, p.429
