Richard Tobin (1829-1887)
Lawyer & Co-Founder & Attorney of the Hibernia Bank, San Francisco
He was born in Ireland at Carrick-on-Suir, Co. Tipperary, and came to California via Australia and Santiago, Chile, with his father and brother in 1849. He read law in the offices of Judge Barry and was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of California in 1853, establishing the firm of Tobin & Tobin. Having lived in Santiago for six years, his knowledge of Spanish played a key part in the rapid growth of his legal business and he quickly amassed a small fortune through Federal practice and land deals. In 1859, he and his brother co-founded the Hibernia Bank (the Hibernia Savings & Loan Society) with Richard acting as the bank's attorney, and he became one of the original owners of the San Francisco Chronicle. In 1870, he commissioned San Francisco's leading architectural firm, Bugbee & Sons, to build his 5,400-square foot home (pictured here in the 1870s) on Nob Hill at 1075 California Street (on the corner of Taylor Street) with a private chapel with stained glass windows. The house was lost to fire in 1895.
Children (8)
Col. Robert Tobin
Lawyer of Tobin & Tobin, San Francisco & Commander of the 3rd Regiment, N.G.C.
1854-1889
Richard Montgomery Tobin
President of the Hibernia Bank, San Francisco & U.S. Ambassador to Netherlands etc.
1866-1952
