T. J. Richards Explained

Tobias John Martin Richards (3 February 1850 – 28 July 1939), invariably referred to as "T. J. Richards", was a South Australian coachbuilder and motor body manufacturer who founded the company which would eventually form the manufacturing base of Chrysler Australia.

History

Early life

Richards was the eldest son of John Martin Richards (1824 – 2 June 1867) and his wife Catherine T. Richards (1823 – 15 April 1908), née Reed, Wesleyan Methodists from Cornwall who migrated to Australia in 1842, where she met and married John, who had a position with the Tasmanian government. They had one daughter before moving to South Australia, with some of her relatives, in 1845.[1] Tobias was born at Montacute, then the site of a copper mine.[2] John and Catherine went on to have total of 15 children.

Richards grew up in Kapunda, and was still living there when his father, a teacher and journalist, drowned in the waters of a local dam while intoxicated. Tobias Richards was a witness at the inquest.[3]

Career

Richards first employment was with Adamson Brothers,[4] a farm machinery manufacturer in Kapunda.[5] He tried other trades, including cordial manufacturing in Gawler[6] before working as a blacksmith in Unley around 1881. He learned the craft of coachbuilding from Mr. L. Maraun of Hindmarsh Square[5] or Pirie Street,[7] which led in 1885 to his opening a small coachbuilding shop in Pulteney Street, Adelaide.[8] In 1887 he first exhibited a waggonette at the Adelaide Show[9]

Richards moved to West Mitcham, near the railway station, some time before 1889. At the 1893 Adelaide Show he exhibited a "first-class assortment of vehicles, comprising expresses, waggonettes, and buggies".[10] By 1896 he was showing his firm's products at such country shows in Terowie, Mount Barker, Mount Pleasant, Snowtown, Gawler, Kadina, Jamestown, Kapunda. By 1900 he had additional premises on Hindmarsh Square. By 1905 his display at the Autumn Show exhibited some 35 designs, mostly sulkies, including his "King of the Road" design and despite the prevailing depression had his staff working overtime.[11]

He served for many years as a coachbuilding judge at Sydney Royal Shows and was in 1908 elected president of the Coachbuilders' and Wheelwrights' Society and was a prominent member of the Chamber of Manufactures, Australian Natives' Association, Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Society, and the Master Carriage and Waggon Builders' Association. He retired from business in 1911[12] and the firm became TJ Richards & Sons, and added motor body building to their range around the same time.

Richards was a keen gardener and player of croquet and lawn bowls.

Subsequent Company history

From 1911 the Hindmarsh Square premises was advertised as "King of the Road Works" and "Australia's leading coachbuilders".In 1914 the firm began selling Dixi, Palmer-Moore and Swift motor vehicles and Rudge and Pope motor-cycles from premises at 95–99 Pulteney Street.[13] The following year they won the exclusive agency for Studebaker automobiles, while H. C. Richards independently opened an agency in Blyth Street for Oakland cars (he returned to head the company when his father retired).T. J. Richards & Sons was founded in 1916[14] and opened a new workshop and showroom in an adjoining building at 132 Pirie Street in 1917, but three years later sold the whole complex, which occupied substantial frontages on Hindmarsh Square, Pirie Street and Hyde Street and included two 3-storey buildings[15] and moved to a large new factory covering 14 acres (5.7 ha)[6] on Leader Street Keswick (now Le Cornu's furniture warehouse) and manufacture concentrated on their "King of the Road" motor bodies, which were built on chassis made by such companies as Dodge and Hudson's Terraplane.

In 1928 a second factory was opened at Mile End,[16] covering 11 acres.[17] In the same year the company forged a relationship with the Chrysler Corporation and subsequently the production of bodies for Chrysler, Dodge, DeSoto and Plymouth automobiles became its main activity.[16] In 1936 the recently formed Australian company Chrysler Dodge Distributors Limited purchased a financial stake in TJ Richards & Sons, taking a controlling interest the following year.[16] In 1941 TJ Richards & Sons was renamed to Richards Industries Limited and the Richards family sold their remaining interest in the company to Chrysler Dodge Distributors Limited in 1946.[16] The name was changed again, to Chrysler Dodge DeSoto Distributors Limited,[16] and the parent company also changed its name, to Chrysler Dodge Distributors (Holdings) Pty Ltd.[18] In 1951 the American Chrysler Corporation bought 85% of Chrysler Dodge Distributors (Holdings) Pty Ltd and renamed it Chrysler Australia.[18]

Family

Richards married Matilda Emily Freeman (16 February 1854 – 25 January 1938) of Mount Barker on 31 March 1875. Their children included:

Their home until 1914 was "Mundaring", Lower Mitcham, then 93 Cambridge Terrace, Malvern, South Australia, where he died.

Notes and References

  1. News: Concerning People . . Adelaide . 18 April 1908 . 17 December 2012 . 7 . National Library of Australia. This reference has more details of T. J. Richards's family.
  2. News: The Montacute Copper Mine . . Adelaide . 21 February 1844 . 17 December 2012 . 3 . National Library of Australia.
  3. News: Coroners Inquests . . Adelaide . 7 June 1867 . 11 December 2012 . 3 . National Library of Australia. In Australian English "dam" refers to the pond as well as the retaining structure.
  4. News: Agricultural Implement & General Machine Manufactories. Kapunda . . Adelaide . 18 July 1868 . 17 December 2012 . 4 . National Library of Australia.
  5. News: Diamond Wedding Celebration at Malvern . . Adelaide . 30 March 1935 . 16 December 2012 . 23 . National Library of Australia.
  6. Eric Richards, 'Richards, Tobias John Martin (1850–1939)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, accessed 11 December 2012
  7. News: Advertising. . . Adelaide . 25 October 1873 . 17 December 2012 . 1 . National Library of Australia.
  8. News: Founder of Big S.A. Industry Dead . . Adelaide . 29 July 1939 . 11 December 2012 . 24 . National Library of Australia.
  9. News: The Exhibits . . Adelaide . 6 March 1909 . 15 December 2012 . 7 . National Library of Australia.
  10. News: The September Show . . Adelaide . 15 September 1893 . 15 December 2012 . 7 . National Library of Australia.
  11. News: The Autumn Show . . Adelaide . 2 March 1905 . 15 December 2012 . 10 . National Library of Australia.
  12. News: Personal . . Adelaide . 11 April 1911 . 15 December 2012 . 6 . National Library of Australia.
  13. News: The Show . . Adelaide . 12 September 1914 . 15 December 2012 . 19 . National Library of Australia.
  14. News: Function at Keswick . . Adelaide . 24 January 1938 . 16 December 2012 . 12 . National Library of Australia.
  15. News: Valuable City Premises, Hindmarsh Square . . Adelaide . 1 May 1920 . 16 December 2012 . 9 . National Library of Australia.
  16. Gavin Farmer, Great Ideas in Motion, A history of Chrysler in Australia 1946–1981, Ilinga Books, 2010, pages 1 to 11
  17. News: In An Adelaide Motor Body Building Works. . . Adelaide . 20 March 1936 . 16 December 2012 . 45 . National Library of Australia. This article covers history of Holden's as well as Richards' factories.
  18. Max Gregory, King of the Road, TJ Richards, Coachbuilder, Restored Cars Number 202, Sept–Oct 2010, pages 10 to 15
  19. News: Fatalities and Accidents . . Adelaide . 21 May 1915 . 16 December 2012 . 9 . National Library of Australia.
  20. News: Family Notices. . . Adelaide . 10 September 1904 . 28 November 2014 . 6 . National Library of Australia.
  21. News: Ambulance Wrecked on North Terrace . . Adelaide . 13 December 1932 . 16 December 2012 . 15 . National Library of Australia.
  22. News: Family Notices. . . Adelaide . 30 October 1920 . 17 December 2012 . 29 . National Library of Australia.