Richards grew up in Kapunda, and was still living there when his father, a teacher and journalist, drowned in the waters of a local dam while intoxicated.
He retired from business in 1911[12] and the firm became TJ Richards & Sons, and added motor body building to their range around the same time.
In 1914 the firm began selling Dixi, Palmer-Moore and Swift motor vehicles and Rudge and Pope motor-cycles from premises at 95–99 Pulteney Street.
[16] In 1936 the recently formed Australian company Chrysler Dodge Distributors Limited purchased a financial stake in TJ Richards & Sons, taking a controlling interest the following year.
Their children included: Their home until 1914 was "Mundaring", Lower Mitcham, then 93 Cambridge Terrace, Malvern, South Australia, where he died.