Biografía
He was the son of a farmer.
He began his career with a shipping agent in Liverpool UK, and left for Victoria in 1862.
He prospected, unsuccessfully, for gold in the Cariboo.
He joined Gilbert Sproat in supervising his lumber sales outlet (Sproat & Co.) in Victoria and was transferred to the San Francisco branch in 1869.
In 1870 he opened his own company - Welch, Rithet & Company in partnership with San Francisco merchant Andrew Welch.
In 1871 he moved the company to Victoria BC.
He was elected as the Mayor of Victoria BC in 1885.
In 1888 the company became R.P. Rithet & Co. Ltd. on the death of Andrew Welch.
He had financial linkages with T.E. Ladner in the Delta Canning Co. Another of his partners was James Angus.
He built wharves and controlled shipping at Victoria and grew and refined sugar in Hawaii and California.
He operated a commission business in San Francisco.
He married Elizabeth Jane Munro.
In 1887 he was the Consul for the Hawaiian Islands in Victoria BC.
He was elected as Mayor of Victoria in 1885 and as a Member of the British Columbia Legislature in 1894-1898.
He built Hollybank, an estate near Beacon Hill Park.
He had interests in the Queens Insurance Co. of America, the National Fire Insurance of Hartford, Enderby Miling Co., C.P. Navigation Co., the Albion Iron Works, and Capilano Water Works.
He was a major shareholder in the B.C. Cattle Co.
In 1872 he was appointed as a Justice of the Peace.
In 1892 he owned the steamer May Queen.
He was buried in Ross Bay Cemetery in Victoria BC.
Embarcaciones poseídas / diseñadas
May Queen;
Search for vessels associated with Rithet →
Lugares nombrados
Rithet's Bog (Saanich (BC); R.P. Rithet (steamship);
Referencias
- Howay, F.W. (1914)
- Mallandaine, Edward (1887)
- Meggs, G. (1991)
