Richard Rushall
Captain Richard Boswell Rushall (April 1865 – 3 February 1953) was a British sea captain and businessman who served as mayor of Rangoon, Burma, during the 1930s. He was the first Englishman to hold this position. Born in Braunston, Northamptonshire, Rushall was the eldest of eight children. After finishing school he left for sea, joined the UK's Merchant Navy, and became a ship's captain. He spent 20 years with the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company, of which 17 were in command of steamships belonging to the company. In 1908 he settled in Rangoon with his family, resigned from the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company and founded Rushall & Co. Ltd., a stevedoring and contracting business that employed between 3,000 and 4,000 men. In December 1922 Rushall was elected as an Honorary Magistrate, and was subsequently made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for his distinguished service during the First World War. He was elected as mayor of Rangoon in January 1930, in an election that was described by Singapore's The Straits Times as having given "universal satisfaction". During his time as mayor, he sought to improve the accommodation and quality of care in the city hospital and to ensure that a fair share of stevedoring jobs in Rangoon were allotted to native dock labourers. During the Second World War Rushall evacuated to Bombay; he died at the age of 87 in Rangoon, where he was commended by U Kyaw Tha for his work and character as mayor. Early life and naval career Richard Boswell Rushall was born in April 1865 in Braunston, Northamptonshire, and was the eldest of eight children. His father, Benjamin Rushall (1825–1900), was a saddler; his mother was Mary Boswell (1843–1918). After finishing school as a young man, Rushall left for sea and joined the Merchant Navy; he served as third officer on one of the British-India Steam Navigation Company's coasting steamers. He first began to reside permanently in Rangoon at the age of 20, and in 1886 he joined the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company. He stayed with the company for 20 years, of which 17 were spent in command of their steamships. He earned his certificate of competency as second mate from the Lords of Trade on 8 March 1888, and eventually rose to the rank of ship's captain – he was aboard one of the final ships to travel under sail around Cape Horn. He married his first wife, Jane Amelia Graham (1872–1899), on 10 September 1892 in Burma, at the age of 27. He and Jane had two children together: Nancy (born 1897) and Benjamin Thomas (1898–1980). Jane died on 19 June 1899. Business While in Rangoon, Rushall met and married Charlotte Sarah Trype (1882–1933)—the daughter of the local station manager—and settled in the city in 1908 with his second wife and their three daughters: Ella Irene (born 1905), Charlotte Mary (1907–1963), and Cecelia. Whilst there, he resigned from the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company and, in 1906, founded Rushall & Co. Ltd., a stevedoring and contracting