Joseph James Richardson
Joseph James Richardson (c1881-1948)
1949 Obituary [1]
"JOSEPH JAMES RICHARDSON, whose death occurred on 14th June 1948 in his sixty-seventh year, was the chairman and founder of Messrs. R. J. Richardson and Sons,, Ltd., engineers and merchants, of Birmingham, and had been head of the firm for twenty years.
He began to serve his apprenticeship in the family firm of R. J. Richardson, in 1894, and at an early age was appointed manager, being responsible for the execution of a number of engineering contracts. In 1907 he established the business of Richardson's Button Machinery and Button Manufacturing Company, Ltd., which he disposed of in 1911. Two years later he founded the firm of Eyelets, Ltd. He was responsible for the design of the plant and the layout of the works for both these businesses, and also for many improvements in automatic machinery for the production of linen and metal buttons. He was also responsible for many improvements in connection with the Tilghman Sand and Shot Blast Plants, for whom Messrs. R. J. Richardson and Sons, Ltd., have held the sole Agency in the Midland District since 1395. Mr. Richardson was elected an Associate Member of the Institution in 1918 and was transferred to Membership in 1939."