Peter Felix Richards (1808–1868) was a pioneering Scottish merchant in Shanghai in the era following the Treaty of Nanjing. He founded the Richards Hotel and Restaurant, the first foreign hotel in China, and the forerunner to the Astor House Hotel.
Early life and family Peter Felix Richards was born on 6 April 1808 in Edinburgh.See http://www.familysearch.org: Source Information: Batch Number: 8106309 Sheet: 39 Source Call No.: 1260848; Hibbard, Bund, 212; and "The Pub with No Peer", Shanghai Star (16 January 2003); http://app1.chinadaily.com.cn/star/2003/0116/cu18-2.html . By 1848 Richards had married Rebecca MacKenzie (born 6 May 1826 in Brechin, Forfarshire), the daughter of David and Rebecca W. MacKenzie,Rebecca's family name is sometimes spelled "McKenzie". Extracted birth or christening record. Familysearch.org: Batch No.: C112754 Dates: 1819 - 1857 Source Call No.: 0993413 Type: Film Printout Call No.: 6902951 Type: Film Sheet: 00; 1871 Scotland Census. Parish: Brechin Burgh; ED: 2; Page: 35; Line: 18; Roll CSSCT1871_48; Year: 1871. and the sister of Margaret (born about 1823), Christian (born about 1829), James (born about 1830), Charles (born about 1832), David (born about 1834), and Robert (born about 1836).1841 Scotland Census. By 1848 Richards and his wife had their first child, Rebecca A. Richards (born about 1848 in Shanghai).See 1871 England Census. Civil parish: Hovingham County/Island: Yorkshire Country: England Registration district: Malton Sub-registration district: Hovingham ED, institution, or vessel: 1 Household schedule number: 104 Class: RG10; Piece: 4826; Folio: 12; Page: 18; GSU roll: 847365. Other children included: Adelaide (born about 1851 in Shanghai),1871 Scotland Census; Parish: Brechin Burgh; ED: 2; Page: 35; Line: 19; Roll CSSCT1871_48; Year: 1871. Amelia (born about 1852 in Shanghai),1871 England Census. Civil parish: Grantham Ecclesiastical parish: Grantham Town: Grantham County/Island: Lincolnshire Country: England Registration district: Grantham Sub-registration district: Grantham ED, institution, or vessel: 2 Household schedule number: 9 Class: RG10; Piece: 3358; Folio: 32; Page: 2; GSU roll: 839360; The 1901 UK Census has Amelia living in Britain as a tutor in Hammersmith. Helen Mary (born about 1853 in Shanghai; died 10 February 1861 in Shanghai),See E. S. Elliston, Shantung Road Cemetery, Shanghai, 1846-1868: With Notes About Pootung Seamen's Cemetery [and] Soldiers' Cemetery (Millington, 1946):26. Peter Felix MacKenzie Richards (born about 1863 in Shanghai; died 18 December 1920 in Colchester, Essex, England),1871 Scotland Census. Parish: Brechin Burgh; ED: 2; Page: 35; Line: 18; Roll CSSCT1871_48; Year: 1871; 1901 England Census. Class: RG13; Piece: 475; Folio: 29; Page: 50. Civil parish: Streatham Ecclesiastical parish: Ascension Balham Hill County/Island: London Country: England; Registration district: Wandsworth; Sub-registration district: Streatham; ED, institution, or vessel: 37; Household schedule number: 325; Shearburn Family Tree, http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/780374/person/-778444995; England & Wales, Death Index: 1916-2005: Death Registration Month/Year: 1920. Age at death (estimated):58; Registration district: Colchester Inferred County: Essex Volume: 4a Page: 731. and Frederick Edward Richards (born about 1864 in Shanghai).1871 Scotland Census. Parish: Brechin Burgh; ED: 2; Page: 35; Line: 18; Roll CSSCT1871_48; Year: 1871; See 1881 Scotland Census. Parish: Edinburgh St Cuthberts; ED: 95; Page: 7; Line: 13; Roll cssct1881_293; Year: 1881.
Career
On 29 August 1842, the unequal Treaty of Nanjing was signed ending the First Opium War (1839–1842) between the British and Qing Empires, and establishing five treaty ports in China where British merchants could operate. In addition to Canton, Amoy, Fuzhou, and Ningbo, the port of Shanghai was opened officially to foreign trade on 17 November 1843.J.W. Maclellan, The Story of Shanghai: From the Opening of the Port to Foreign Trade (Shanghai: The "North-China Herald" Office, 1889):14, http://libweb.uoregon.edu/ec/e-asia/read/storyofshanghai.pdf According to Shanghai historian F.L. Hawks Pott, "The foreign population of the Settlement gradually increased. In 1844 it was 50, in the following year, 90, and after five years it had grown to 175. In addition there was a floating population, consisting of the men on shore from the ships in harbour."See "Population in the 1840s", Tales of Old Shanghai, http://www.talesofoldchina.com/shanghai/business/t-cens01.htm
Shanghai (1844-1856) Peter Felix Richards, who had been doing business in China from about 1840,It must have been in either Hong Kong or Canton. See P.F. Richards, letter dated 17 March 1861 from Tientsin, published in North-China Herald (6 April 1861). was one of the first foreign residents of Shanghai."List of Foreign Residents in Shanghae", North-China Herald (3 August 1850):1. During 1844 Richards established P.F. Richards & Co. (Shanghai and Fuzhoufu) (i.e., Fuzhou),North-China Herald (3 August 1850):1; Mark Swislocki, Culinary Nostalgia: Regional Food Culture and the Urban Experience in Shanghai (Stanford University Press, 2008):104; Papers of miscellaneous companies, 1823–1940 (Manuscripts/MS JM/MS.JM/I28), Jardine Matheson Archive, http://janus.lib.cam.ac.uk/db/node.xsp?id=EAD%2FGBR%2F0012%2FMS%20JM%2FMS.JM%2FI28 which operated a general store, ship chandler, and commission agent business,Hibbard, Bund, 212; Shanghai Almanac and Miscellany (1856):111, where Richards is listed as "Ship Chandlers, General Store-keeper, Shipping Victuallers." on 4th Avenue (四马路) (now Fuzhou Road; 福州路)"Ladies of Old Shanghai on the 4th Avenue", Multitext (29 June 2009), http://multipletext.com/2009/6-Shanghai_ladies.htm about a "block and a half to the west" of Sichuan Road.Swislocki, 103. This would make its location half way between Jiangxi Middle Road and Henan Middle Road on Fuzhou Road. P.F. Richards & Co. imported and sold staples of English diets, including "orange marmalade, cheddar and stilton cheese, mustard, oatmeal, cocoa powder, and oil of Bergamot, as well as French olives and Turkish figs",Swislocki, 103. This business continued to operate until at least 1859, see North-China Herald (25 July 1851), and Shanghai Almanac and Miscellany (1856):111. as well as soda water and aerated lemonade.North-China Herald (3 August 1850):1. For an extensive list of products sold, see North-China Herald (17 May 1851):1.
According to Pott: "The foreign population was then something over 100, of whom seven were ladies. There were 25 mercantile firms engaged in business."F.L. Hawks Potts, A Short History of Shanghai (Kelly & Walsh, 1928), http://www.earnshaw.com/shanghai-ed-india/tales/library/pott/pott02.htm In 1846, Richards opened one of the first western restaurants in ShanghaiMark Swislocki, Culinary Nostalgia: Regional Food Culture and the Urban Experience in Shanghai (Stanford University Press, 2008):107. and the first western hotel in China,Hibbard suggests that the Hotel was established in 1844. See Hibbard, Bund, 212. south of Yangjingbang CreekFrom 1849 the Creek was the boundary between the French and British Concessions. It was subsequently drained by order of the French Municipal Council in May 1915 and became Avenue Edward VII. See Christian Henriot, ed., Virtual Shanghai: Shanghai Urban Space in Time, http://www.virtualshanghai.net/Image.php?ID=65; Robert Dollar, Memoirs of Robert Dollar: 69; Shanghai History, http://autumnjade.com/shanghai_history.html) (now Yanan Dong Lu, see See "Street Names", Tales of Old Shanghai; http://www.talesofoldchina.com/shanghai/places/t-plac02.htm ). on the river front on The Bund"Some Pages in the History of Shanghai, 1842-1856", The Asiatic Review [East India Association] 9-10 (1916):129. facing the Huangpu RiverHibbard, Bund, 212; and http://www.pujianghotel.com/e-cn-1.htm near Jinling Road East,Some sources indicate the original location was "on Astor Road (now Jinmen Lu)"; See "The Pub with No Peer", Shanghai Star (16 January 2003); http://app1.chinadaily.com.cn/star/2003/0116/cu18-2.html ; and Vivian Wang, "Hotel with a History", China Daily (Hong Kong edition) (17 January 2003); http://www2.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2003-01/17/content_151819.htm . However, Astor Road is now Jinshan Lu. See "Street Names", Tales of Old Shanghai; http://www.talesofoldchina.com/shanghai/places/t-plac02.htm (accessed 8 July 2009). This is near the site of the current hotel. in the Huangpu District of Shanghai,"Five-star legend", Shanghai Daily News (18 April 2005); http://english.eastday.com/eastday/englishedition/node20665/node20667/node22808/node45576/node45577/userobject1ai1026003.html (accessed 11 April 2009). in what became in 1849 the French Concession. Named after its founder, Richards' Hotel and Restaurant (礼查饭店; "Licha"; Lee-zo),Teikoku Tetsudōchō, Japan, An Official Guide to Eastern Asia: Trans-Continental Connections between Europe and Asia Vol. 4 (Imperial Japanese Government Railways, 1915):233. was "a single and ordinary building",George Lanning and Samuel Couling, The History of Shanghai (The Shanghai Municipal Council; Shanghai: Kelly & Walsh, 1921):434-435. in the Baroque style.Property Details: http://www.wotif.com/hotel/View?hotel=W47786 that targeted initially the seafaring clientele that made up the bulk of travelers to 19th century Shanghai. The very first public meeting of the British settlement was in the newly opened Richards' Hotel on 22 December 1846."Some Pages in the History of Shanghai, 1842-1856", The Asiatic Review [East India Association] 9-10 (1916):129; George Lanning and Samuel Couling, The History of Shanghai Part 1 (Shanghai: For the Shanghai Municipal Council by Kelly. & Walsh, Limited, 1921; 1973 ed.):290; J.H. Haan, "Origin and Development of the Political System in the Shanghai International Settlement", Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 22 (1982):38; http://sunzi1.lib.hku.hk/hkjo/view/44/4401496.pdf By May 1851 Richards added an auction service to his business."Public Auction", North-China Herald (17 May 1851):1.