John Wigham Richardson (7 January 1837 – 15 April 1908) was a British shipbuilder on

Tyneside Tyneside is a List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne, England, River Tyne in Northern England. The population of Tyneside as published in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 774,891 ...

during the late 19th and early 20th century.

Early life and career

Richardson was born on 7 January 1837, the son of devout

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

s Edward Richardson and Jane Wigham, and grew up in

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

. He was educated at

Bootham School Bootham School is a private Quaker boarding school, on Bootham in the city of York in England. It accepts boys and girls ages 3–19 and had an enrolment of 605 pupils in 2016. It is one of seven Quaker schools in England. The school was ...

, York. His nephew,

Charles Merz Charles Hesterman Merz (5 October 1874 – 14 or 15 October 1940) was a British electrical engineer who pioneered the use of high-voltage three-phase AC power distribution in the United Kingdom, building a system in the North East of England i ...

, was a pioneer of electricity distribution in the UK and internationally conceiving the idea of a synchronised electricity grid, now common throughout the world. Although the family business was in

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning (leather), tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffal ...

tanning, he devoted his life to shipbuilding, learning his skills initially as a draughtsman for Lloyd's Register of Shipping in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

(in 1853) and then as an apprentice to Jonathon Robson, a steam-tug builder in

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

(from 1853 to 1856). In 1860, at the age of just 23, he founded the Neptune Works, often incorrectly referred to as Wigham Richardson, at Walker on Tyne, with a loan of less than £5,000 from his father. This was one of the world's first shipyards to build ships in steel, and the original steam engine on the site also provided electric lighting to the neighbourhood. The company later merged with

Swan Hunter Swan Hunter, formerly known as Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson, is a shipbuilding design, engineering, and management company, based in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, England. At its apex, the company represented the combined forces of three pow ...

's yard to become Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson in 1903. This Company became the most technically advanced ship building facilities anywhere and built the RMS ''Mauretania'' for

Cunard The Cunard Line ( ) is a British shipping and an international cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its four ships have been r ...

which was launched in 1906 and held the

Blue Riband The Blue Riband () is an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest Velocity, average speed. The term was borrowed from horse racing and was not widely used until ...

as the fastest liner across the Atlantic for 26 years. True to his

beliefs, John Wigham Richardson cared greatly for the workers in his company and was a founder of the Workers’ Benevolent Trust in the region, a forerunner to the trades’ union movement. In 1890 he became President of North East Coast Institution of Engineers & Shipbuilders. The yard built all sorts of ships, other than warships. However, in his later years, Richardson moved away from the Quaker faith and attended an Anglican church. Among his many passions was one for sundials. He wrote papers on the construction of sundials which were advanced for their time. His most famous sundial was on the store house at the Neptune shipyard at Walker on Tyne. This is now in the collection of the Tyne and Wear Museums.

Personal life and death

In 1864, he married Marian Henrietta Thöl, the daughter of a prominent

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

businessman, Nicolaus Johann Phillip Thöl, founder of J.P. Thöl & Co Merchants of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. They had seven children, Philip Wigham Richardson (1865–1953), Ernestine (1868–1953), Maurice Wigham (1869–1937), Cecil (1870–1885), Theodora Wigham (1871–1932), George Beigh (1872–1935), Felix Gabriel (1878–1894). He died on 15 April 1908 and is buried at

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of North Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in P ...

Publications

* ''Memoirs of John Wigham Richardson, 1837-1908''. Glasgow, H. Hopkins, 1911
Digital version at Hathi Trust

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, John Wigham 1837 births 1908 deaths English engineers Businesspeople from Newcastle upon Tyne English Quakers Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery British shipbuilders 19th-century British businesspeople