John Richardson (businessman)

The Hon. John Richardson
Born	1754 (1754) Portsoy, Banffshire
Died	18 May 1831(1831-05-18) (aged 76–77) Montreal, Lower Canada
Known for	Co-founder of the Bank of Montreal; Co-founder and first President of the Montreal General Hospital; founder of the XY Company.

The Hon. John Richardson (c. 1754 – 18 May 1831)

Born circa 1754 at Portsoy, Banffshire. He was the son of Thomas Richardson, a successful merchant, and his first wife Helen, daughter of Robert Stewart of Towiemore, Banffshire. His father afterwards married Helen, daughter of George Phynn (1712-1788), Lord of the Corse of Monelly/Monellie,^[1] which allied John to the Forsyths and Ellices. One of his sisters (Eweretta) married The Hon. Alexander Auldjo, and another (Anna) was the mother of The Hon. Thomas Thain.

American Revolution

After receiving his education in the arts at

In 1806, Richardson formed part of a committee with

After his death, in 1833 the Richardson's home on Saint Antoine Street, Montreal, became Orr's Hotel, which accommodated forty guests. In 1820, John Bigsby described a dinner party given at the Richardsons:

At an evening party at Mr Richardson's 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 (Great Britain), 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.^[4]

In 1821, Richardson,

In 1794, at the Anglican Christ Church in Montreal, John Richardson married Sarah Ann Grant (1773-1847), niece and heiress of The Hon. William Grant and his wife, widow of the 3rd Baron de Longueuil. The Richardsons were the parents of seven children, including,

• Ann Richardson (1797–1880), married firstly David Ogden (1772–1823), son of Chief Justice Isaac Ogden, of Montreal, and grandson of Judge David A. Ogden. Her first husband was a brother of Charles Richard Ogden and Peter Skene Ogden. Secondly, in 1827, Ann married The Hon. Thomas Brown Anderson, President of the Bank of Montreal.
• Eweretta Richardson (d.1874). In 1846, at Montreal, she married Colonel William Denny (1804-1886), of the 71st (Highland) Regiment of Foot, and Tralee, County Kerry. Denny was also an artist, and the son of Anthony Denny (first cousin of Sir Edward Denny, 3rd Bt., of Tralee Castle) and Frances, daughter of William Blennerhassett (1735-1797) of Ballyseedy, County Kerry.
• Helen Richardson. In 1816, at Montreal, she married George Auldjo (1790–1846) J.P., of Montreal and afterwards Skene Terrace;
  Chief Magistrate of Aberdeen. He was a nephew of Alexander Auldjo
  , the husband of Helen's aunt, Eweretta Richardson
• John Richardson born 13 February 1804 in Montreal, Quebec and died in 1819
• Elizabeth Jane Richardson born 16 June 1806 in Montreal, Quebec and died on 13 July 1826
• Thomas Richardson (d. 1834), merchant at
  Calcutta
  , India.
• Charlotte Richardson (1808–1884), married Rev. James Ramsay, of Montreal, formerly of Glebe House, Templemore, County Tipperary. He ran a school for the boys of Montreal's elite.

^[6]

References

External links

• "Biography". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.
• "John Richardson". Dictionary of Canadian Biography (online ed.). University of Toronto Press. 1979–2016.
• The John Richardson letters preserved by the Ontario Historical Society