Richard Rushall
Captain Richard Boswell Rushall MBE (6 March 1864 – 19 February 1953) was a British sea captain and businessman who served as mayor of Rangoon, Burma, during the 1930s. After finishing school he left for sea and became a ship's captain, and spent 20 years with the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company. In 1908 he settled in Rangoon with his family, and founded a stevedoring and contracting business. He was elected as mayor of the city in January 1930, in an election that was described as having given "universal satisfaction".
Life and career
Richard Boswell Rushall was born to Benjamin Rushall and Mary Boswell on 6 March 1864 in Braunston, Northamptonshire.[1] After finishing school as a young man he left for sea, and rose to the rank of ship's captain – he was aboard one of the final ships to travel under sail around Cape Horn. He went on to join the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company, where he stayed for 20 years, of which 14 were spent in command of steamships belonging to the company.[2] In 1908 he settled in Rangoon with his wife Charlotte—the daughter of the local station master—and their three daughters, Molly, Esme and Cecelia.[1] Whilst there, he resigned from the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company and founded Rushall & Co., a stevedoring and contracting business located on Judah Ezekiel Street (now Thein Phyu Road[3]) next to the docks of the city.[4][5] The company employed between 3,000 and 4,000 men.[2]
In December 1922 Rushall was elected as an Honorary Magistrate in the Rangoon Municipal Elections,[6][7] whereupon he devoted himself to the improvement of the city's public parks and war memorial.[8] Rushall was elected mayor of Rangoon in January 1930, and was seen as a popular choice – at the time, Singapore's paper The Straits Times described his election as having given "universal satisfaction".[8] He was subsequently made a Member of the Order of the British Empire,[7] and, later that year, he supported a resolution to improve the accommodation and quality of care in the city hospital.[9] The following year, he sat on a committee to ensure that a fair share of stevedoring jobs in Rangoon were allotted to native dock labourers.[10] Rushall died in Rangoon on 19 February 1953, at the age of 88.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- ↑ Shipbuilding & Shipping Record: A Journal of Shipbuilding, Marine Engineering, Dock, Harbours & Shipping 15: 490. 1920. OCLC 565478285. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Burma Rights Movement for Action (1940). The Quarterly Civil List for Burma: 197. OCLC 19333630. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
