Richard Potter (23 July 1817 – 11 January 1892) was a Victorian era English barrister and businessman investor, later chairman of the Great Western Railway.
His father and uncle were successful businessmen, and investors in John Edward Taylor's new Manchester Guardian newspaper.
He then moved the family to Gloucester, where he unsuccessfully lost the contest to represent the constituency to Maurice Berkeley, 1st Baron FitzHardinge.
Eassie's company diversified after the railway boom period, supplying windows and doors, as well as prefabricated wooden huts to the gold prospectors in Australia.
[5] Potter then travelled to France and obtained an order from Emperor Napoleon III for a further 1,850 huts to a slightly modified design.
[5] After finishing the French project, Isambard Kingdom Brunel approached Price & Co. about producing a hospital, as had been agreed between the Government and Florence Nightingale.
Between September and October 1855, over 6,800 tons of hut kits were shipped direct from Gloucester Docks to Balaklava, to avoid the delay in rail travel to Southampton.
In 1869, as part of his investment in the Grand Trunk Railway and its proposed recovery after the American Civil War, he lived in Boston.
[9] Potter developed the gardens along managed Victorian era principles, building extensive heated greenhouses to allow the family to eat well.