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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.
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
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
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)
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.
Period
Chairman
1964-1969
William McGillivray Rait (c1891-1973)
1969-1988
?
1988-?
K. Bruce MacMillan (1924-2014)
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
Period
Vice-President
?-1954
John Burdette Richardson (1900-1954)
1954-?
?
?-1979
James Arthur “Art” Tooth (1924-2007)
1979-1988
Otto Lang
Period
General Manager
1922-1964
William McGillivray Rait (c1891-1973)
1965-1973
John D. “Jack” MacDonald
1973-?
K. Bruce MacMillan (1924-2014)
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
?
1951
2013
33,000
Built by Western Elevator Company (1903), sold to Pioneer Grain (1951), new elevator (1981), demolished (October 2014)
Carey 2
Built by Victoria Elevator Company (1914), sold to Manitoba Pool (1928), sold to Pioneer Grain (1971), used for storage until demolition (?)
Cartwright
1918
1918
5,000
Clanwilliam 1
1972
1977
53,000
Bought from Inter-Ocean Grain (1972)
Clanwilliam 2
1972
1977
82,000
Bought from Inter-Ocean Grain (1972)
2007
-
?
Bought from Agricore United (2007), demolished and replaced by concrete silos (2015)
Dundonald
?
2007
-
?
1985
1998
?
New elevator (1985-1986), traded to UGG (1998)
Elphinstone
1972
1978
71,000
Bought from Inter-Ocean Grain (1972), closed (1978)
Glossop 1
1951
1983
63,000
Built by Spencer Grain (1920), sold to Western Grain (1929), sold to Pioneer Grain (1951), demolished (January 1989)
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)
1918
1988
134,000
Two balloon annexes (?), demolished (1988)
1959
2013
New annex built at Hyas, Saskatchewan (1959), moved to this site and renovated into elevator (1987), demolished (2014)
Killarney
?
2007
2007
?
Melita
1923
1926
6,000
Miami
1918
1921
86,000
Minnedosa
?
2007
-
?
Mollard
?
1998
-
?
Morden
1972
1979
86,000
Bought from Inter-Ocean Grain (1972)
Nesbitt
?
2006
2006
?
Shoal Lake
?
2007
-
?
Starbuck
?
2007
-
?
1951
1969
45,000
Built by Spencer Grain (1920), sold to Western Grain (1929), sold to United Grain Growers (1969)
Swan River
1919
1996
?
1982
-
?
New elevator (1982)
Waskada
1924
1924
35,000
Winkler
1930
1945
10,000
1972
1990
?
Bought from Inter-Ocean Grain (1972)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Lombard Building / Wheat Pool Building (373 Main Street, Winnipeg)
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Richardson Building (1 Lombard Place, Winnipeg)
“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
