[1] On 30 September 1892, Richard Southall was visiting the baths at Sandgate, Queensland, when a large wave washed him from where he was sitting into deeper water.

Not being able to swim, he would have drowned, except that a young clerk, Leon Burguez, jumped in fully clothed and rescued Richard Southall.

Leon Burguez received a certificate of merit from the Royal Humane Society of Australasia for his bravery.

[11] Richard Southall was apprenticed to a building contractor in London, before entering into business on his own account.

[1] After immigrating to Brisbane in 1869, he tried farming on the Logan River for three years, but eventually decided that building work in Brisbane would be more profitable and entered into a partnership, Southall & Tracey, to resume work as a contractor;[1] the partnership continued until 1877.