John Richardson (1754-1831)
The Hon. John Richardson, M.P., J.P., of Forsyth, Richardson & Co., Montreal
He was born at Portsoy, Banffshire. He graduated in arts from King's College, Aberdeen (1774) before travelling to New York to work for his stepmother's brother, James Phyn, in the firm of Phyn, Ellice & Co. During the American Revolution, the firm moved its North American base to Montreal and Richardson went into partnership with John Porteous as one of the main suppliers to the British armies in New York City and Philadelphia. By 1779, he was appointed a Captain of Marines and with Porteous they took to privateering on a ship ("Vengeance") in which they'd invested.
In 1787, he went to Montreal to help his cousin, John Forsyth, reorganise Phyn, Ellice & Co. who were principally East India Merchants but heavily involved in the fur trade. The firm was afterwards continued as Forsyth, Richardson & Co. and they set up the XY Company to compete with the fur trading North West Company until the two merged and Richardson retained a quarter of the total shares. In politics, he twice represented Montreal and served on the Legislative Council of Lower Canada for twenty years.
He formed a committee to purchase the land on which the Montreal General Hospital was built, personally supervising its construction. He served as the hospital's first president and the west wing was named in his honour. He was also on the committee responsible for erecting Montreal's Nelson's Column, and was President of the Natural History Society of Montreal. He was well read in modern and ancient history, law, economics, and poetry; and, generally considered to be the leading businessman of his era in Montreal.
In 1794, he married Sarah, the niece and co-heiress of The Hon. William Grant, of St. Roch's, Receiver-General for Lower Canada. Her first cousin, David Grant, married their uncle's stepdaughter, the 4th Baroness de Longueuil, and the Grants still continue as the Barons de Longueuil. The Richardsons had 7-children and lived in a large house on Saint-Antoine Street that from 1833 became Orr's Hotel with accommodation for forty guests. In 1820, a visitor from England described a dinner party given at the Richardsons: "... the appointments and service were admirable; the dress, manners, and conversation of the guests, in excellent taste. Most of the persons there, though country-born, had been educated in England, and everything savoured of Kensington. There was much good music. I remember to this day the touching effect of a slow air on four notes, sung by a sweet voice, and supposed to be a hymn sung before a wayside oratory in Tuscany".
In 1787, he went to Montreal to help his cousin, John Forsyth, reorganise Phyn, Ellice & Co. who were principally East India Merchants but heavily involved in the fur trade. The firm was afterwards continued as Forsyth, Richardson & Co. and they set up the XY Company to compete with the fur trading North West Company until the two merged and Richardson retained a quarter of the total shares. In politics, he twice represented Montreal and served on the Legislative Council of Lower Canada for twenty years.
He formed a committee to purchase the land on which the Montreal General Hospital was built, personally supervising its construction. He served as the hospital's first president and the west wing was named in his honour. He was also on the committee responsible for erecting Montreal's Nelson's Column, and was President of the Natural History Society of Montreal. He was well read in modern and ancient history, law, economics, and poetry; and, generally considered to be the leading businessman of his era in Montreal.
In 1794, he married Sarah, the niece and co-heiress of The Hon. William Grant, of St. Roch's, Receiver-General for Lower Canada. Her first cousin, David Grant, married their uncle's stepdaughter, the 4th Baroness de Longueuil, and the Grants still continue as the Barons de Longueuil. The Richardsons had 7-children and lived in a large house on Saint-Antoine Street that from 1833 became Orr's Hotel with accommodation for forty guests. In 1820, a visitor from England described a dinner party given at the Richardsons: "... the appointments and service were admirable; the dress, manners, and conversation of the guests, in excellent taste. Most of the persons there, though country-born, had been educated in England, and everything savoured of Kensington. There was much good music. I remember to this day the touching effect of a slow air on four notes, sung by a sweet voice, and supposed to be a hymn sung before a wayside oratory in Tuscany".
