Richard was born in 1942 and for the first eighteen years of his life the family lived in a rural part of Kings Norton, moving to Moseley in 1960. He was educated at West House School in Edgbaston and then Bromsgrove School, Worcestershire. His early schooling was significantly disrupted when, in 1952, he contracted Poliomyelitis and was very ill for many weeks. His parents were told that if he recovered he would be in an ‘iron lung’ for the remainder of his life. Mercifully he made a full recovery and, remarkably, then found he could run quicker than most of his peer group. He carried off many athletic cups at both West House and Bromsgrove and went on to run for Worcestershire and Worcestershire Schools. After school, using his speed, he played Rugby for Moseley and was an opening bat for Moseley Ashfield Cricket Club.

He had expected to read Medicine, at Birmingham University, but whilst waiting for ‘A’ level results he took a holiday job with a large Insurance Company. He loved it and ‘changed horses’. He quickly attained his Chartered Examinations and, in 1965, once qualified, started his own Insurance Brokerage. It proved highly successful and the companies he founded still trade today, fifty six years on.

In 1970 he married Helen and they were blessed with Sarah in 1975 and Matthew in 1978. Both are now married themselves and have

expanded the family with the arrival of five grandchildren.

His great interests have always been history, especially the history of Birmingham, and politics. In 1968 he stood as a candidate for election to the Birmingham City Council, failing to defeat the then sitting Lord Mayor by just 130 votes. He also wisely refused a winnable Parliamentary seat in 1970 but

these political involvements led to him being appointed a Commissioner of the Peace for Solihull in 1981.

Masonry, however, in recent times, has taken over a large part of his life but he has often said Masonry has been very generous to him over the years. He served at Deputy PGM in Warwickshire for seven years and was Grand Superintendent in the Royal Arch, again in Warwickshire, for thirteen years. He has also been privileged to hold important Offices in Masonic Orders connected to Mark Masons’ Hall, in London. In 2008 he was installed as M.Ill.Grand Sovereign of the Masonic and Military Order of the Red Cross of Constantine, one of the three ‘great pillars’ of Christian Freemasonry. He retired from this office in 2015. In 2014 he became Pro Grand Master to the Grand Master, HRH Prince Michael of Kent, in the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons. This latter appointment necessitated regular visits to Kensington Palace, which for three years Richard found a great delight and a wonderful experience.