Richard Potter

Richard Potter (23 July 1817 – 11 January 1892) was a Victorian era English barrister and businessman investor, later chairman of the Great Western Railway.

Background Potter was the son of Richard Potter, the radical non-conformist Liberal Party MP for Wigan, and founding member of the Little Circle. His uncle was Thomas Potter, the first Lord Mayor of Manchester. His father and uncle were successful businessmen, and investors in John Edward Taylor's new Manchester Guardian newspaper. Their second formation of the Little Circle resulted in pressure being brought to eventually pass the Reform Act 1832.

Early life

Richard Potter was born on 23 July 1817 in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, the son of Richard Potter and Mary Seddon. Brought up a Unitarian, his father held the seat of Wigan until 1839, replaced by the Radical party's William Ewart. He then moved the family to Gloucester, where he unsuccessfully lost the contest to represent the constituency to Maurice Berkeley, 1st Baron FitzHardinge. Richard Potter Snr died in July 1842.

Business career After being admitted to the bar in 1840, Potter invested in the timber importing firm Price & Co. based in Gloucester. At the time, the Gloucester Docks served as a major inland port and a significant center for timber trade in Southwest England.

Price & Co. From 1849 Price & Co. became involved in supplying timber to William Eassie, who was supplying railway sleepers to the Gloucester and Dean Forest Railway. Eassie's company diversified after the railway boom period, supplying windows and doors, as well as prefabricated wooden huts to the gold prospectors in Australia.

Railways In 1849, Potter joined the board of the Great Western Railway. An unpopular character, Potter resigned from the GWR board for the first time in 1856. During his period in office he consolidated the GWR stocks, and introduced a superannuation fund for the entire workforce. Potter resigned for a second time in 1865 because the work was preventing attention to his private affairs.

The passing of the British North America Act, 1867 included the provision for an Intercolonial Railway to link with the Grand Trunk Railway at Rivière-du-Loup. In 1869, as part of his investment in the Grand Trunk Railway and its proposed recovery after the American Civil War, he lived in Boston. He also lived in New York for a period in 1874.

Politics In 1864, Potter was canvassed as a potential parliamentary candidate for Pembroke Boroughs.

Family Potter married Laurencina Heyworth, daughter of Liverpool merchant Lawrence Heyworth and his wife Elizabeth (née Aked), on 13 August 1844 at St. Mary the Virgin church in West Derby, Lancashire. The couple had ten children:

Lawrencina (1845–1906), who married Robert Durning Holt Catherine Courtney, Baroness Courtney of Penwith (1847–1929), social worker and internationalist Mary Elizabeth (1849–1923) Georgina (1850–1914), on 11 September 1873 she married Daniel Meinertzhagen, of Brookwood Park, Alresford, Hampshire, and 12 Tokenhouse Yard, London, he died 5 June 1910 at Brookwood Park. Blanche (1851–1905) Theresa (1852–1893), first wife of Charles Cripps, 1st Baron Parmoor Margaret Heyworth (1854–1921), who married Henry Hobhouse Beatrice Webb, Baroness Passfield (1858–1943), social reformer