James Armstrong Richardson Sr. was an influential business person in Canada in both business and aviation during the early part of the 20th century. He lived most of his life in Winnipeg.
Early life
James Armstrong Richardson was born in Kingston, Ontario in 1885 to Agnes and George A. Richardson. He attended Queen's and received his Bachelor of Arts in 1906. After graduation, Richardson entered the family business founded by his grandfather, James Richardson & Sons, at the time, one of Canada's greatest grain exporters.
Richardson's greatest contributions came as a pioneer of Canadian commercial aviation; he founded Western Canadian Airways in 1926 and helped open up the mineral mining development of the North with his air transport routes. The later company, Canadian Airways was instrumental in creating a transcontinental air system that was eventually incorporated into the fledgling Trans-Canada Air Lines. The backroom deals in 1937 that cut Canadian Airways out of the transcontinental routes was said to have "broken his heart". He died two years later. Richardson was the 6th Chancellor of Queen's University, elected in 1929 and he served in this post until his death from a heart attack in 1939.
The Richardson legacy
His daughter, Agnes Benidickson, would later become the first female chancellor of Queen's, and his son James Armstrong Richardson, would become a Cabinet minister in the government of Pierre Trudeau. In December 2006, the Winnipeg International Airport was renamed Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport in his honour. The main stadium at Queen's University is named in honour of his brother, Captain George Taylor Richardson, a Queen's alumnus and a valiant soldier who was killed in action in World War I. Today, Richardson & Sons, Limited is a family-owned company that has expanded and developed into an international, multi-enterprise corporation. The firm manages successful operations in agriculture and food processing through Richardson International, financial services through Richardson Financial Group, property management through Lombard Place Limited, oil and gas exploration through Tundra Oil & Gas Limited, and oil and gas marketing through Kingston Midstream Limited. In 2009, Richardson Partners Financial merged with GMP Private Client to form Richardson GMP, a wealth management and investment services firm.
