MHS Centennial Business: James Richardson & Sons Limited / Pioneer Grain Company / Richardson Pioneer

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Chairmen | Presidents | Pioneer Grain / RIchardson Pioneer | Country Elevators | See Also | Sources

In 1857, James Richardson was 39 years old when he began devoting his full time to his Kingston, Ontario grain business, after 13 years running his own tailor shop. Many of his customers had been farmers who had paid with farm products and he found that he could sell them later for more money than the original price of the clothes. He was joined by sons David and George, and by 1880 the firm hired its first representative in Manitoba, Edward O’Reilly. Their first cargo of grain arrived by the Great Lakes in 1883, to be housed in Kingston’s first elevator, with a capacity of 60,000 bushels. O’Reilly was initially based at Portage la Prairie, but by 1896 had an office in the Winnipeg Grain & Produce Exchange on Princess Street.

James Richardson died in 1892, but his sons carried on the business, and George was the first member of the family to visit Manitoba. On George’s death in 1906, his sons James and George joined, and the centre of operations moved increasingly westward. In 1912 the business was incorporated as James Richardson & Sons and moved into the Winnipeg Grain Exchange Building on Lombard Avenue. Operations expanded rapidly during the First World War, and on one day in 1916 the grain office handled more grain than any previous year. By 1923 the Executive Office had been transferred from Kingston to Winnipeg, and Winnipeg became the Head Office in 1939.

While the business moved into new fields of investment, including radio, real estate, air transportation, and oil and gas, the family remained personally involved. James A. Richardson’s wife Muriel Richardson directed growth for 27 years after her husband’s death in 1939, and sons George T. Richardson and James A. Richardson continued the family involvement. Hartley T. Richardson is the present Chief Executive Officer. The Richardson Building holds a dominant place on the Winnipeg skyline, as the Richardson family does in Winnipeg life.

In January 2004, an MHS Centennial Business Award presented to James Richardson & Sons by the Manitoba Historical Society was accepted by Kathleen Richardson.

Chairmen

Period	Chairman
1966-1968	James Armstrong Richardson (1922-2004)
1968-1993	?
1993-2000	George Taylor Richardson (1924-2014)
2000-2021	Carolyn A. Richardson Hursh
2021-present	Hartley Thorbjorn Richardson

Presidents

Period	President
1857-1892	James Richardson (1819-1892)
1892-1906	George Algernon Richardson (1853-1906)
1906-1918	Henry Westman Richardson (1855-1918)
1919-1939	James Armstrong Richardson (1885-1939)
1939-1966	Muriel Sprague Richardson (1891-1973)
1966-1993	George Taylor Richardson (1924-2014)
1993-present	Hartley Thorbjorn Richardson

Vice-Presidents

Period	Vice-President
?-1954	John Burdette Richardson (1900-1954)
1954-?	?
?-?	Norman James Alexander (1914-2004)
1977-?	Frederick M. Fulcher
1971-1977	Roderick Oliver Alexander “Rod” Hunter (1915-2001)
1982-1997	John Keith Knox
1977-?	K. Bruce MacMillan (1924-2014)
1977-?	R. Ross Smith (1930-2008)

Pioneer Grain Company / Richardson Pioneer

Arising from a 1913 reorganization of the parent firm, the Pioneer Grain Company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Richardson International. It operated country elevators around Manitoba and, through the years, it acquired additional elevators from other firms, including Thorson-Olson (1921), Goose Lake Grain & Lumber Company (1923), Saskatchewan & Western Elevator (1931), Reliance Grain Company (1948), Western Grain Company (1951), Independent Grain Company (1953), Weyburn Flour Mills (1964), and Inter-Ocean Grain Company (1972). It later operated under the name of Richardson Pioneer.

Chairmen

Period	Chairman
1964-1969	William McGillivray Rait (c1891-1973)
1969-1988	?
1988-?	K. Bruce MacMillan (1924-2014)

Presidents

Period	President
?-1938	James Armstrong Richardson (1885-1939)
1938-1964	William McGillivray Rait (c1891-1973)
1964-1965	Stanley D. MacEachern
1965-1973	John D. “Jack” MacDonald
1973-1988	K. Bruce MacMillan (1924-2014)
1988-1995	Douglas R. Larson
1995-?	Curtis R. “Curt” Vossen

Vice-Presidents

Period	Vice-President
?-1954	John Burdette Richardson (1900-1954)
1954-?	?
?-1979	James Arthur “Art” Tooth (1924-2007)
1979-1988	Otto Lang

General Managers

Period	General Manager
1922-1964	William McGillivray Rait (c1891-1973)
1965-1973	John D. “Jack” MacDonald
1973-?	K. Bruce MacMillan (1924-2014)

Country Elevators (Manitoba)

Location	Rail	Opened	Closed	Capacity (bushels)	Comments
Brandon	?	1973	-	?	Bought from Manitoba Pool (1973), renovated (1973), new elevator next to it (1981)
Cardale	?	1981	1981	?
Carey 1	CPR	1951	2013	33,000	Built by Western Elevator Company (1903), sold to Pioneer Grain (1951), new elevator (1981), demolished (October 2014)
Carey 2	CPR				Built by Victoria Elevator Company (1914), sold to Manitoba Pool (1928), sold to Pioneer Grain (1971), used for storage until demolition (?)
Cartwright	CPR	1918	1918	5,000
Clanwilliam 1	CNR	1972	1977	53,000	Bought from Inter-Ocean Grain (1972)
Clanwilliam 2	CNR	1972	1977	82,000	Bought from Inter-Ocean Grain (1972)
Dauphin	CNR	2007	-	?	Bought from Agricore United (2007), demolished and replaced by concrete silos (2015)
Dundonald	?	2007	-	?
Dutton Siding	CNR	1985	1998	?	New elevator (1985-1986), traded to UGG (1998)
Elphinstone	CNR	1972	1978	71,000	Bought from Inter-Ocean Grain (1972), closed (1978)
Glossop 1	CPR	1951	1983	63,000	Built by Spencer Grain (1920), sold to Western Grain (1929), sold to Pioneer Grain (1951), demolished (January 1989)
Glossop 2	CPR	1979	2007	?	Built at Elphinstone by Inter-Ocean Grain (1956), sold to Pioneer Grain and moved to Glossop (1972), renovated (1987), sold to Parrish & Heimbecker (2007-2008)
Kenville	CNR	1918	1988	134,000	Two balloon annexes (?), demolished (1988)
Kenville West	CNR	1959	2013		New annex built at Hyas, Saskatchewan (1959), moved to this site and renovated into elevator (1987), demolished (2014)
Killarney	?	2007	2007	?
Melita	CPR	1923	1926	6,000
Miami	CNR	1918	1921	86,000
Minnedosa	?	2007	-	?
Mollard	?	1998	-	?
Morden	CPR	1972	1979	86,000	Bought from Inter-Ocean Grain (1972)
Nesbitt	?	2006	2006	?
Shoal Lake	?	2007	-	?
Starbuck	?	2007	-	?
Strathclair	CPR	1951	1969	45,000	Built by Spencer Grain (1920), sold to Western Grain (1929), sold to United Grain Growers (1969)
Swan River	CNR	1919	1996	?
Swan River Valley	CNR	1982	-	?	New elevator (1982)
Waskada	CPR	1924	1924	35,000
Winkler	CPR	1930	1945	10,000
Winkler	CPR	1972	1990	?	Bought from Inter-Ocean Grain (1972)

See Also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Lombard Building / Wheat Pool Building (373 Main Street, Winnipeg)

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Richardson Building (1 Lombard Place, Winnipeg)

Sources:

“Richardson V-Ps named,” Winnipeg Free Press, 24 June 1977, page 16.

“Lang quits post at Pioneer Grain,” Winnipeg Free Press, 26 January 1988, page 31.

Grain: The Entrepreneurs by Charles W. Anderson, Winnipeg: Watson & Dwyer, 1991.

“James Richardson & Sons, Limited,” Winnipeg Free Press, 24 June 1995, page 28.

“City’s first family celebrates,” Winnipeg Free Press, 16 June 2007, page 26.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Judith Hudson Beattie.

Page revised: 14 January 2023