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AOSA CENTENARY HISTORY 1841 - 1941 |
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Chapter
II |
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Contents
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Thomas Richardson was born at Darlington on 15th September 1771, and
died on 25th April 1853. His aunt Mary married Joseph Pease and their
son Edward, with whom Thomas Richardson was afterwards so closely associated,
was the moving spirit in the development of English railways. The Richardson
parents were poor, and Thomas received little schooling. But he came
of good stock; he was physically strong and healthy; integrity and
sturdiness of mind animated his body; his trust in himself, his spirit
of adventure and his foresight all supplemented and developed his scanty
book learning. Throughout his life he went on learning in the world
of men. His character developed at work and when his apprenticeship ended he was ready for the great adventure of his business life. London called him. His cousin Edward Pease paid his outside coach fare, gave him a guinea for his pocket and a letter of introduction to Smith, Wright and Gray, the Quaker bankers of Lombard Street. They inspected him, questioned him and approved. They saw beneath the young man’s northern speech and provincial clothes and country shyness something of the uprightness, the vigour, the determination that moved him, and they gave him his first footing on the stage of finance. He did not stay long as errand boy sweeping the bank steps, or as messenger carrying the bank’s letters, but soon became a clerk at £100 a year. With this income he kept and clothed himself, regularly he sent something to his parents, and he decided to marry. He had met his future wife, Martha Beeby, of Allonby in Cumberland, in the house of Banker Smith where she was employed. They married in 1799, and not long afterwards Thomas Richardson made the change that decided his business career. His sister had recently married John Overend, a Yorkshire Quaker from Settle. Overend travelled for his firm of wool factors and bankers, and had frequently been up to London on business. The two young men were conversant with the practice of bill-broking. Neither necessarily revered the traditional methods nor did they consider that age provided sanctity. Both thought that by a simple change they could vastly improve the current bill-broking method and increase the broker’s range. The broker worked by bringing together the customer who wished a use for his money, and the merchant who wished to get the promises to pay which he had received for goods supplied, promptly and fairly discounted for cash. The broker negotiated the bill of exchange; he acted as go-between for the banker and the merchant, and in this capacity he collected a commission from the banker and another from the merchant. The young partners decided to cut out the commission charged to the merchant and to rely on the commission provided by the banker alone. The profit on each transaction would be reduced but the volume of business would be increased, for no merchant would pay to other firms a commission for what elsewhere he could get for nothing. The young partners discussed each point, they probed each problem; they arranged for every change and chance; better still they first interested and finally convinced another Friend, Samuel Gurney, a banker of Norwich, a man older, more experienced and much more wealthy than themselves. They depended on him for their financial backing, and a short time later the banker, having assured himself of the soundness of the new plans encouraged his son Samuel to join the firm. Early in the new century Thomas Richardson and John Overend resigned their respective positions and set up as billbrokers. Soon Samuel Gurney joined them and completed the famous firm of Richardson, Overend and Gurney. |
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In the school dining hall hangs a portrait
of Thomas Richardson. As a painting it lacks distinction. The left
hand hangs lifeless; the
coat and waistcoat are dull and dead; no high light emphasises the
whiteness of the stock; only the heavy seal which hangs from the edge
of the waistcoat reflects a gleam of light from its amber. The artist
has concentrated on the face. He shows in it Thomas Richardson in his
maturity and in his assured success. He faces the world solid and composed.
The nose is dignified, the mouth firm but not hard, the eyes direct
and candid. His forehead is not noticeably high but rather broad and
solid; the clean-shaven skin has a healthy colour and glow, and just
a trifle of double chin hints at the advance of years. His head stands
firm and massive yet kindly, serious but not too serious. He is conscious
of his own worth but not proud of it; he is dignified but not formal.
He looks what he is – a Quaker worthy, self-reliant, comfortable,
composed. He more than any other single person deserves to be called
the founder of the school.