Volume III - ElectricCanadian.com

480 OR4 TON. WILLIAM RICHARDS,^^M ex-M.P.P., Bideford, HllerslieV: P.O., P.E.I., was born May1 5th, 1819, in Swansea, South Wales.P.E.I., but ultimately at Bideford,where he soon owned one of the finestship yards in the Province, and wherehe built vessels forHis parents were the late Capt. Wm.the English market,andRichards and Margaret Thomas. Hefor trading on his own account,chiefly to the West Coast of Southwas educated in Swansea and Waterford,Ireland. Very early in life, he and the Mediteranean. Latterly, heAmerica, Brasil, the East Indiesexhibited a partiality for the sea, and and his sons have been engaged inwhen about eighteen years of age, went farming and stock raising,to sea with his father, and at twentyfive,had risen to be master mariner,and subsequently a vessel owner. Earlyin the " fifties," Mr. Richards left thesea and engaged in ship building andmercantile pursuits, first in Port Hill,on a largescale, and have been very successful inthis departure. Mr. Richards is also adirector and large stock holder in theCharlottetown Steam Navigation Company,ltd., who own " The Northumberland,""The St. Lawrence," "ThePrincess of Wales," "TheM. A. Starr," tc. In 1870,he was elected by acclamationto the Legislative Assemblyof P.E.I., and was amember of the Governmentduring 1871-72. April 4th,1872, a general election tookplace, in which he was defeated.He did not take anactive part, in politics thenuntil i876,when he was electedto the Legislative Council,and when his term expired,did not offer himselfagain. In politics, he is a Conservative,and in religion, anEpiscopalian. In 1849, Mr.Richards was married toSusan, daughter of the lateHon. James Yeo, a prominentmerchant and shipowner of Port Hill, formerlyof Cornwall, England. Hisfamily consists of two sonsand one daughter, viz. :Hon. James W. Richards,M. P. P., Bideford, JohnRichards, of Charlottetown,and Isabel M., now Mrs.W. McLea Walbauk, ofMontreal.