Born and Bred
A Yorkshire Family
Goachem Swain Richardson
Goachem's Story
Goachem was born on the 17th of July 1881 in Evandale, Tasmania. His parents were Briggs Atkinson Richardson and Mary Ann Richardson (nee Gilbert). Briggs had arrived in Tasmania in 1855, aged 9, with his parents Peter and Sarah Richardson after emigrating from England.
According to family sources, Goachem, along with one of his brothers spent a number of years in South Africa building windmills and undertaking various engineering works. Around 1900 he was back in Tasmania and living in Penguin where he built and operated a small cordial drink factory at 106 Main Road, Penguin. On the 1st of July 1903 he married Gertrude Florence Farmer in Evandale.
By 1906 Goachem and Florence were living in Penguin, and by 1906 the Post Office Directory lists him as a "Bicycle Maker, Importer and Agent". It was here at 117 Main Road, Penguin (long since demolished) that he established a bicycle manufacturing and repair workshop which he then expanded to encompass motorcycles and motorcars.
Goachem, by all accounts was renowned as a bit of an inventor and a successful one at that. It was here where he designed and built the first Australian cycle pedal flying machine and entered Australian aviation history as the first successful man-powered flight in Australia. A local doctor called Whitfield De Witt Henty, who shared an interest in scientific inventions with Goachem, was the machine's pilot.
The pilot sat on a bicycle, which was suspended beneath wings by several struts and would provide the energy to turn the propellers as well as steer and ride. The historic flight took place in 1908, from a hill at the eastern end of Penguin, but finished with a crash onto Watcombe Beach. Unfortunately, the pilot, sustained a broken collar bone as a result of the crash.
In 1910 Goachem built the first motor garage in Penguin where it was known as the "Penguin Beach Motor & Cycle Works".
In 1913 he was elected superintendent of the Penguin Fire Brigade and served until he resigned in 1925. He was also involved in the design of the first Penguin sewerage plan based on gravity and was awarded a Gold Medal by the local Masonic Lodge. He was a miner of osmiridium near Savage River. Apparently, he collected and developed many iron oxides used to paint his house. He was the discoverer of red granite and talc in the Riana area. He also initiated bag sewing and camouflage net making evenings where sand bags and nets were then sent abroad for the war effort. According to his granddaughter these were well attended by the community. He also organised many fund raising events for the war effort.
As previously mentioned, Goachem was an avid inventor, one invention known as the "Aqua Auxiliary" was a tank fitted into a car and dripped small amount of water into the fuel system causing smoother running. Around 1925 he also developed a pattern of a revolutionary engine eliminating cylinders and pistons (later developed by a German called Wankel). He invented the "Richardson Can Emptyer and Retainer" for pouring petrol into a car without spilling it; Nupeg clothes pegs using a mass production machine which was patented; and the "Richardson Wire Staples" machine to mass produce staples to be used in wooden fencing. These inventions revolutionised the wire working trade in Australia, eventually leading to overseas export markets being established.
In the mid 1920s he moved the family to Sydney where he set up and rebuilt his machinery at the Maspro factory, Burwood, noted for its production of PMG Street Fittings etc. In 1925 he became Director of the Nupeg (Australia). Correspondence suggests he went onto design wall ties and eventually he worked for the PMG making telephones and associated equipment.
On the 15th of November 1926, his wife Gertrude died aged 46. Goachem would later marry for a second time to Violet Browne in 1931. He died on the 24th of April 1948 in Sydney, Australia, aged 66.