Richard was born in Bath, England, in 1936. His school years were quite varied as his father was a Senior Officer in the British Army. In 1938, the family were sent to Hong Kong then Singapore. They were evacuated as the Japanese moved South in December 1941. They were put on a ship to Colombo and then Durban in South Africa. Richard began his education at Hilton Road in Natal and then at Cape Town followed by Cheltenham College, Gloucestershire, after returning to England.
On leaving school he spent two years as a Farm Pupil (English version of Jackaroo) at Hosier Estate, in Wiltshire, before being called up for two years National Service.
On the 25th October, 1957, Richard arrived by ship in Melbourne as a “Ten Pound Pom”. He spent the next two years as a “real” Jackaroo on properties near Benalla, Dunkeld and Mansfield. In 1960, he joined Elder Smith & Co. Ltd. at their Melbourne Office followed by time at Hamilton and Mortlake. In 1969, he moved to their International Division for the export of primary produce, livestock and wheat followed by time at Head Office in Adelaide and Tokyo.
One of his everlasting memories was taking fourteen months leave of absence from the company and travelling extensively through Mexico, South America, Bermuda, across to England and catching up with his mother, family and friends before coming home through India, Japan and Singapore.
After leaving Elders in 1983, he worked at the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce and was involved in setting up the International Trade Information Centre. He then joined a Private Company as a Financial Advisor until the Stock Market Crash. He then worked with a legal firm working on family trusts and deceased estates.
Richard met Janet (Jano) and they were married in 1994, and he relocated to Sydney. Lorne has been a big part of their lives, particularly Richard who first came on a Trans-Otway bus in 1958 as a young lad, to stay with relations. He purchased a home in 1965 and has visited Lorne for holidays ever since. Now in retirement they spend three months over summer along will other visits during the year.
Richard has been a keen golfer and tennis player, and in his younger days pulled the whites on for the Stock and Station Agents cricket team at Hamilton.
At Lorne he is a member of the Anglers, Bowls, Surf and Golf Clubs and the Men’s Shed. Richard and Jano have had a long “love affair” with Lorne.
