Richard Smith (businessman) explained

Richard Smith (27 July 1836 – 27 March 1919) was a partner and managing director of the Adelaide, South Australia, firm of George P. Harris, Scarfe & Co., later known as Harris Scarfe. His son Harold Law-Smith was prominent in the history of the company.

History

Smith was born in Westerham or Brasted, Kent, son of William Smith and Ann Smith, née Solomon. He received a good education and worked for a firm of ironmongers in Coventry.

He came to South Australia in June 1863 aboard the Countess of Fife,^[1] under engagement to the firm of George P. Harris of Hindley Street, and transferred to Gawler Place in 1864.Smith was employed as a travelling salesman, serving customers in the rapidly developing districts of the South East and Yorke Peninsula.Smith was the ideal man for the job — knowledgeable, tireless and reliable, ever on the lookout for fresh fields to conquer, yet not one for self-aggrandizement — and was taken on as a partner in 1866. Around this time Harris also took on George Scarfe as a partner, and the business became Geo. P. Harris, Scarfe, & Co. in December 1866,^[2] with Smith as managing director.The company never looked back, but grew into one of the largest firm of traders in the Southern Hemisphere, with a reputation for good products and a fair deal.

Around December 1918 Smith's health began to fail, and only attended his office intermittently, then died after a few weeks' incapacity.The funeral took place on 28 March 1919^[3] and his remains interred in the family vault, Brighton Cemetery.^[3]

Other interests

From the 1890s Smith was involved with other commercial concerns. He was a director of

• Mutual Life Insurance Company of Australasia
• Executor Trustee and Agency Co. of South Australia
• United Insurance Co. of Australasia
• Stannary Hills Mining Co.
• Adelaide Rope, Nail, and Barbed Wire Co.
• Adelaide Chemical and Fertiliser Co.

and was a

• foundation and life member of the SA Commercial Travellers' Association Inc.
• councillor with the Town of Glenelg and Mayor in the three terms 1893 to 1895
• fine tennis player and in later life an enthusiastic bowler, one of the mainstays of the Glenelg club
• contributor to patriotic causes during the Great War
• sponsor of the Soldiers' Memorial Hall at St Peter's College
• breeder of high-grade Shropshire sheep^[4] at "Sweetholme", his property at Strathalbyn.
• breeder of shorthorn cattle at "Nomgetty" station of in Western Australia.^[5]

Recognition

A window in St Peter's Cathedral, Adelaide was dedicated to his memory

Family

Richard Smith (born 1836) married Emma Law (1844 – 13 March 1918), daughter of John Law (died 1887?) on 20 March 1869. They had a home "Woodlands" at Partridge-street, Glenelg.They had five daughters and five sons, many of whom used "Law Smith" as a though it were a surname:

• Bertha Law Smith (4 Feb 1870 – 1947) married Harold Charles Downer (1865 – 1921) on 17 February 1909. He was a son of Henry Edward Downer (–1905), lived at "Sweet Home Farm", Strathalbyn
• Edith Smith (10 December 1871 – 22 August 1947)
• Harold Law Smith (31 December 1973 – 1955) (director of Harris, Scarfe & Co.) living at Glenelg in 1953
• Percival "Percy" Law Smith (11 July 1875 –) married Violet Hilda Shenton, daughter of Sir George Shenton on 10 January 1907.^[6] He was manager of the Perth branch of Harris, Scarfe, later living in Melbourne.
• Gertrude Emma Law Smith (1876 –1941) married William Margary Hole (–) on 27 August 1904,^[7] lived in Adelaide.
• Mabel Law Smith (1878 –) married (later Sir) Herbert Sydney Hudd (25 February 1881 – 30 April 1948) on 7 May 1919,^[8] living at Glenelg in 1953
• (Richard) Edgar Law Smith (29 May 1881 –)
• Walter Henry Law Smith (7 Feb 1883 – 18 December 1953)^[9] married Agnes Giles on 2 December 1909
• (Charles) Gordon Law Smith (23 June 1885 – 24 April 1960) fought in Palestine, married Molly Hawkes on 9 March 1920; lived at Gawler.
• Catherine Ellen "Nelly" Law Smith (died 26 December 1946) married Max W. Cooksey (died May 1938), lived in Sussex. She was a champion golfer.

References

10. Death Of Richard Smith-The Merchant Prince-Via Trove

Notes and References

1. News: Advertising . . South Australia . 25 June 1863 . 10 May 2020 . 1 . Trove .
2. News: Advertising . . South Australia . 21 December 1866 . 8 May 2020 . 2 . Trove .
3. News: A Merchant Prince . . South Australia . 28 March 1919 . 10 May 2020 . 1 . Trove .
4. News: Men and Matters . . South Australia . 6 September 1910 . 10 May 2020 . 1 . Trove .
5. Web site: Marjorie Findlay . Australian Dictionary of Biography: Smith, Richard (1836–1919) . National Centre of Biography, Australian National University . 1976 . 12 May 2020.
6. News: Family Notices . . Western Australia . 11 January 1907 . 12 May 2020 . 2 . Trove .
7. News: Family Notices . . South Australia . 31 August 1904 . 12 May 2020 . 1 . Trove .
8. News: Personal. . . South Australia . 17 May 1919 . 12 May 2020 . 30 . Trove .
9. News: Death Of Mr. W. Law-Smith . . South Australia . 21 December 1953 . 12 May 2020 . 14 . Trove .