Richard Leader (1609–1661) was an English businessman who was the first manager of the Saugus Iron Works, the first integrated ironworks in North America.
[4] In 1645, the Company of Undertakers for the Iron Works in New England hired Leader to replace John Winthrop the Younger as manager.
[6] In 1646, when Robert Child, Samuel Maverick, and William Vassall were imprisoned by the Massachusetts General Court for their petition for freedom of religion, they were confined to Leader's house.
[8][9] After leaving the iron works, Leader attempted to mine copper at John Endecott's farm in Salem, Massachusetts (now part of present-day Topsfield).
In 1650, Leader moved to South Berwick, Maine (then part of Kittery), where he had been granted the exclusive right to use the Little River to erect mills.
When the Massachusetts Bay Colony extended their jurisdiction into the Province of Maine, Leader went to London to protest on behalf of the government of Edward Godfrey.
In a letter from 1660, he complained about the island's climate and stated that if it wasn't for the slave labor available in Barbados, he would prefer to reside in New England.