The story of James Richardson, a Hurlford born man who, in 1951, bequeathed money for use at Hurlford.
JAMES RICHARDSON was born at Hurlford in 1865 and was the eldest of 12 children. At school he helped his mother run her grocers shop and when he left school at 13 year he got a job earning 4/- (40p)per week as a grocer's assistant at Kilmarnock. When he was 21 years of age he boarded the windjammer "Westgate" for Melbourne. After 99 days at sea
he stepped ashore in a new land where he had no friends and a meagre £20 in his pocket. He got a job in Sydney selling sewing machines and pianos but that did not prove successful and he later took a job as a barman at a Melbourne Hotel earning £2.5/- per week. Such was his thrift that within 6 years he had saved sufficient from his pay to buy the lease of his first hotel. The story is told of how at this stage of his career he went to an auction sale at which a property was being sold. A rival licensee was there ready to bid £33,000 for it, but just as the sale was about to start James Richardson walked in and asked the "upset price" and was told "£25,000." "It's mine" he said and here's my cheque." The Auctioneer protested that it was not a sale but James insisted that it was a deal and that he had been given a price and he had accepted it. By 1932 he had 9 hotels in Melbourne and a great chain of wine shops. He was the biggest individual hotel owner in Australia and his wealth was assessed at £2M. But he was still the frugal, plain living man and his home was a simple upstairs sitting-room and bedroom at the old pub he first bought. A report in a Melbourne newspaper says "After 58 years, that was still pretty much the way millionaire Richardson lived. The only concession to easy living he made recently was a bath at his spacious Alexander Hotel. He rose at 0645 hours every morning, did a few exercises, and trotted along to his old pub for breakfast. He never married, had never been home to Ayrshire, had never hankered for a yacht or a mansion, had never frittered away his fortune on racing, smoking, drinking or gallivanting. His most frivolous diversion was attending theatre when he was accompanied by his sister or a small party of friends. On 18 August 1951 Mr Robert Richardson, 58 London Road, Kilmarnock, and his sister Mrs Catherine A Hart, 3 Ashton Place, Mauchline Road, Hurlford, learned of the death of their brother James Richardson and were told that he was one of the wealthiest men in Australia. The communities of Hurlfod and Crookedholm are known to have been bequeathed the sum of £15K. This news was learned by the Rev W.R.Y. Marshall, Reid Memorial Church, Hurlford, who received a long distance telephone call to that effect from a representative of the "Melbourne Sun" newspaper, and according to his information £5K would be divided between 2 Churches in Hurlford - Hurlford Kirk and Reid Memorial; £5K would be set aside for a hospital in Hurlford and a similar amount left for the benefit of the children of Hurlford and Crookedholm. Mr W.L.Walker Kilmarmock's Town Chamberlain, also received a telephone call lasting 20 minutes from the same newspaper. James Richardson did not forget the schools in Hurlford. Ayrshire Education Committee were informed during 1951 that he had bequeathed £2K to Hurlford's four schools, Headmasters of which want to spend the money on more equipment, particularly film projectors. And the committe, which will consider the Headmasters proposals at it's next meeting, decided that Hurlford School will get £1K; St Pauls RC and Crookedholm £450 each and Crossroads School £100.
James Richardson was aged 86 years when he died and he never forgot his Ayrshire roots. I recall these events when I was a very young boy in the village. Everyone was asking "Who is this bloke who has bequeathed the village so much money? James Richardson epitomised the typical Scottish character in his frugal style of living, his wise use of money and his adherence to Christian values. The street where I lived was built in the late 1950s and was named Richardson Avenue and is still extant today. The playing field, opposite Barnweil Drive, which was developed with James Richardson's money, was named Richardson Park; fitting tributes to one of Hurlford's more famous sons.
he stepped ashore in a new land where he had no friends and a meagre £20 in his pocket. He got a job in Sydney selling sewing machines and pianos but that did not prove successful and he later took a job as a barman at a Melbourne Hotel earning £2.5/- per week. Such was his thrift that within 6 years he had saved sufficient from his pay to buy the lease of his first hotel. The story is told of how at this stage of his career he went to an auction sale at which a property was being sold. A rival licensee was there ready to bid £33,000 for it, but just as the sale was about to start James Richardson walked in and asked the "upset price" and was told "£25,000." "It's mine" he said and here's my cheque." The Auctioneer protested that it was not a sale but James insisted that it was a deal and that he had been given a price and he had accepted it. By 1932 he had 9 hotels in Melbourne and a great chain of wine shops. He was the biggest individual hotel owner in Australia and his wealth was assessed at £2M. But he was still the frugal, plain living man and his home was a simple upstairs sitting-room and bedroom at the old pub he first bought. A report in a Melbourne newspaper says "After 58 years, that was still pretty much the way millionaire Richardson lived. The only concession to easy living he made recently was a bath at his spacious Alexander Hotel. He rose at 0645 hours every morning, did a few exercises, and trotted along to his old pub for breakfast. He never married, had never been home to Ayrshire, had never hankered for a yacht or a mansion, had never frittered away his fortune on racing, smoking, drinking or gallivanting. His most frivolous diversion was attending theatre when he was accompanied by his sister or a small party of friends. On 18 August 1951 Mr Robert Richardson, 58 London Road, Kilmarnock, and his sister Mrs Catherine A Hart, 3 Ashton Place, Mauchline Road, Hurlford, learned of the death of their brother James Richardson and were told that he was one of the wealthiest men in Australia. The communities of Hurlfod and Crookedholm are known to have been bequeathed the sum of £15K. This news was learned by the Rev W.R.Y. Marshall, Reid Memorial Church, Hurlford, who received a long distance telephone call to that effect from a representative of the "Melbourne Sun" newspaper, and according to his information £5K would be divided between 2 Churches in Hurlford - Hurlford Kirk and Reid Memorial; £5K would be set aside for a hospital in Hurlford and a similar amount left for the benefit of the children of Hurlford and Crookedholm. Mr W.L.Walker Kilmarmock's Town Chamberlain, also received a telephone call lasting 20 minutes from the same newspaper. James Richardson did not forget the schools in Hurlford. Ayrshire Education Committee were informed during 1951 that he had bequeathed £2K to Hurlford's four schools, Headmasters of which want to spend the money on more equipment, particularly film projectors. And the committe, which will consider the Headmasters proposals at it's next meeting, decided that Hurlford School will get £1K; St Pauls RC and Crookedholm £450 each and Crossroads School £100.
James Richardson was aged 86 years when he died and he never forgot his Ayrshire roots. I recall these events when I was a very young boy in the village. Everyone was asking "Who is this bloke who has bequeathed the village so much money? James Richardson epitomised the typical Scottish character in his frugal style of living, his wise use of money and his adherence to Christian values. The street where I lived was built in the late 1950s and was named Richardson Avenue and is still extant today. The playing field, opposite Barnweil Drive, which was developed with James Richardson's money, was named Richardson Park; fitting tributes to one of Hurlford's more famous sons.