John Richardson (1810 – 22 December 1888) was an Australian pastoralist, store keeper and politician. He was a member of the

New South Wales Legislative Council The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...

on three occasions (1851–54, 1855–56 and 1868–87) and a member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...

between 1856 and 1859.

Early life

Richardson was the son of a Presbyterian minister and was educated at parish schools. He initially worked in London as a linen draper and emigrated to Sydney in 1838. Philosophically a liberal, he became politically active during the 1840s and 1850s and opposed the importation of cheap labour, whether coolie or convict and also opposed the conservative constitution proposed by

William Wentworth William Charles Wentworth (August 179020 March 1872) was an Australian pastoralist, explorer, newspaper editor, lawyer, politician and author, who became one of the wealthiest and most powerful figures of early colonial New South Wales. Throug ...

. Richardson developed a number of pastoral stations in the

Darling Downs The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was generall ...

region and also owned J. Richardson & Co, a department store in

Armidale Armidale is a city in the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. Armidale had a population of 24,504 as of June 2018. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. It is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region. It ...

Parliament

In September 1851, prior to the establishment of responsible government, Richardson was elected to the seat of County of Stanley in the semi-elected Legislative Council. He represented the electorate until March 1854 when he resigned his seat to undertake a long tour of Britain. On his return in September 1855 he won a by-election for the Council seat of Stanley Boroughs (including Brisbane and Ipswich) which, prior to the establishment of Queensland as a separate colony in 1859, was part of New South Wales. At the first election under the new constitution he was elected to the Legislative Assembly as one of the two members for Stanley Boroughs. At the 1859 election, Richardson successfully stood for the seat of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

but resigned from the seat when Queensland was granted self-government. In October 1868, he accepted a life appointment to the New South Wales Legislative Council. He did not hold a parliamentary or ministerial position.

Richardson's department store

Richardson's (J. Richardson & Co Ltd) was a

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

that operated between 1842 and 1992.

History

Richardson began his business in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

in 1842 dealing in imports from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and ships chandlery. After suffering great losses, in 1872, Richardson relocated to the

Northern Tablelands The Northern Tablelands, also known as the New England Tableland, is a plateau and a region of the Great Dividing Range in northern New South Wales, Australia. It includes the New England Range, the narrow highlands area of the New England regio ...

town of

and occupied a store purchased from John Moore. Later in 1879, Moore set up his business again nearby however it was bought out by the firm and became the furniture department of Richardson's. The building that stands today at 195 Beardy Street was built as a 'universal providers' emporium in 1904. The business continued serving as a modern department store for Armidale until it was downsized and relocated to the old Capital Cinema building at 203 Beardy Street (now Bing Lee) in November 1983 and traded there until its final sale in April 1992.

Today

The original and now heritage listed department store on Beardy Street is now part of the Armidale Plaza

shopping centre A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known collec ...

complex with major tenants in the former space now called Richardson's arcade being the long-standing women's fashion outlet

Sportsgirl Sportsgirl is an Australian women's clothing chain owned and operated by Sussan. History 1940s and 1950s The first Sportsgirl store opened in 1948 as an alternative to its sister label Sportscraft on Swanston Street, Melbourne. The store was o ...

, menswear retailer Gazman and various other businesses. Richardson's Arcade, Armidale - panoramio

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, John 1810 births 1888 deaths Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council People from Fife Scottish emigrants to colonial Australia 19th-century Australian politicians Defunct department stores of Australia