Richard Grigg
Born 6 Sep 1847 at Little Torrington, Plymouth, Devon. [1]
His parents emigrated to Canada in about 1862 and it is said that his boyhood was spent in Canada, on an Ontario farm. [2] However, another obituary says that he made his first visit to Canada in 1872 which is perhaps a misprint.
1871 Census – Plymouth. Builder’s manager. Living at his uncle Walter Lethbridge’s home.
14 Aug 1872 Married Julia Clara Dyer in Plymouth, at which time he was a civil engineer, of Kensington.
1875 resided 125 Ladbroke Grove Road, London. [3]
1879 “the Partnership heretofore subsisting between us the undersigned, Walter Lethbridge and Richard Grigg, of 125, Ladbroke Grove-road, Notting Hill, London, in the trade or business of Contractors and Builders, under the firm or style of Lethbridge and Grigg, has been dissolved, as from the 5th day of October, 1878, by mutual consent.—As witness our hands this 17th day of September, 1879...” [4]
1881 Census - 125 Ladbroke Grove Road, London. House builder, employing 13 men.
1885 One of the founder directors of the Haverton Hill Salt Company Limited. [5] Of Grey Towers, Norton, Stockton-on-Tees. The prime mover behind this venture was John Vivian of Whitehaven, managing partner of the Cumberland Diamond Boring and Tunnelling Company, of Whitehaven who was Grigg’s first cousin.
1886 The Haverton Hill Salt Co was restructured and recapitalised as South Durham Salt Company Limited. Though he was not one of the initial directors, Grigg became managing director.[6]
1888 Committee Member, Stockton Chamber of Commerce. [7]
1888 The South Durham Salt Company Limited was sold to a new syndicate called the Salt Union on its incorporation. Grigg was a founding director of Salt Union and managing director for their Middlesbrough District.[8] Bell Brothers sold their Clarence Salt Works to Salt Union the following year, which also then came under Grigg’s management.
1890 Directory Entry - Richard Grigg of Grey Towers, Norton, Stockton-on-Tees. Managing Director, Salt Union Limited, Middlesbrough, South Durham Works, Haverton Hill, Middlesbrough. [9]
1890 Visited America on behalf of Salt Union to report on the works of the North American Salt Company. [10]
1890 Along with several other directors of the Salt Union, he sold his shares in the company (which in his case was only 155 shares). [11]
1891 Census – Grey Towers, Norton, Stockton-on-Tees. Salt Manufacturer.
1898 Presented a paper to the IMechE entitled “On the Middlesbrough Salt Industry”[12]
1898 The North Eastern Salt Company Limited registered, with Richard Grigg as chairman and managing director. Made up of representatives of several local salt companies, the object of the company was to “carry on the salt trade in the Middlesbrough and South Durham district”.[13]
1901 Census – Greylands, Norton. Manager of a saltworks.
1904 Resigned his position as District Manager for Salt Union Limited and severed his connection with the salt industry.[14]
1906 The advisory committee on commercial intelligence of the English Board of Trade appointed Richard Grigg their special commissioner and instructed him to investigate and report upon the conditions and prospects of British trade in Canada. Grigg arrived in Canada in Sep 1906 and completed his mission in May 1907. [15] His acclaimed report was published as “Report upon the Conditions and Prospects of British Trade in Canada, by Mr. Richard Grigg (Special Commissioner of the Advisory Committee to the Board of Trade on Commercial Intelligence)”
1908 Appointed HM Trade Commissioner in Canada. [16]
1910 Notwithstanding his residence in Canada, he retained a home in England, being listed as a County Magistrate for Devon, resident at Wingfield, Stoke, Devonport. [17]
1912 Richard Grigg appointed Commissioner of Commerce by Minister, Sir George Foster; the name Commercial Intelligence Service was adopted, Grigg sometimes referred to as the Director of Commercial Intelligence . He had the rank of Deputy Minister in the Canadian Government. [18]
1914 produced a report for the Canadian Government on “The Trade of China and Japan”
1916 Died suddenly 6 Jan 1916, dropping dead at Ottawa Central Railway Station, aged 68. Of Wingfield, Devonport, England and of the Department of Trade and Commerce, Canada. [19]
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ Monumental Inscription
- ↑ Hamilton Daily Times - 6 Jan 1916
- ↑ Electoral Roll
- ↑ London Gazette - 19 Sep 1879
- ↑ Stockton Herald – 27 Jun 1885
- ↑ St James’s Gazette – 14 Oct 1886
- ↑ North Star (Darlington) - 16 Jun 1888
- ↑ Winsford & Middlewich Guardian - 10 Oct 1888 and History of The Salt Union. A F Calvert 1913
- ↑ Kelly’s Directory of Durham 1890
- ↑ History of The Salt Union. A F Calvert 1913
- ↑ Liverpool Journal of Commerce - 18 Sep 1890
- ↑ Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Volume 45, Issue 1, Jun 1893 (needs member login)
- ↑ Liverpool Journal of Commerce - 8 Sep 1898
- ↑ Stockton Herald, South Durham and Cleveland Advertiser - 9 Apr 1904
- ↑ Statistics Canada
- ↑ Government of Canada archives, Order in Council number: 1908-2272 M
- ↑ Kelly’s Directory of Devon 1910
- ↑ Chronological History of the Department of Industry, Trade and Commerce, Canada
- ↑ Hamilton Daily Times - 6 Jan 1916; Ottawa Evening Journal - 7 Jan 1916; Daily Gazette for Middlesbrough - 28 Jan 1916