Lieut-Colonel Charles Richard Mackay O’Brien, Governor of Seychelles, 1912-1918, was born in 1860, son of Lt. Col. Sir Terence O’Brien, Governor at Heligoland and Newfoundland. Educated at Felsted, Sandhurst; 2nd Lieut. 30th Cambridgeshire Regiment, 1878; Captain, 1st Bn. East Lancashire Regiment, 1887; Major, 1897. He served South African war, 1899-1902 and retired from army in 1903. Lieut-Colonel Charles Richard Mackay O’Brien became acting Commissioner of Police, Transvaal, 1903 and Colonial Secretary, Gambia in 1910.
During his administration of the Seychelles Colony he finished off the Government House, planned and laid out the beautiful lawns adoring it. The wireless station of Beau Vallon was erected in 1915 during his terms in office. On leaving Seychelles O’Brien was appointed Governor of Barbados, 1918-1925 and Special Commissioner, Sierra Leone, 1926. Created Knight Commander of the order of St. Michael and St. George (KCMG), 1920. He died in 1935.