Richard H. Knight was born in the
little town of Bruce Mines on Georgian Bay. He attended public school
here and high school at Port Arthur and Richmond Hill. He graduated from
the School of Practical Science at Toronto in 1902 and supplemented this
course by post-graduate work in mining and metallurgy, receiving the
degree of B.A.Sc., from the University of Toronto.
The early part of Mr. Knight's surveying and engineering career was
spent in northern and western Ontario where he was actively engaged in
the location and construction of the Algoma Central and Hudson Bay
railway, the Algoma Eastern railway, and the Lake Huron and Northern
Ontario railway.
In December
1905, Mr. Knight married Miss Ada McKinley,
B.A., of Seaforth, Ontario, a graduate of the University of Toronto, and
the following year took up residence in Edmonton. Here he joined the
engineering firm of A. Driscoll & Co., and under the new firm name of
Driscoll & Knight carried on a general engineering and surveying
practice.
In 1904, Mr. Knight obtained his commission as Dominion Land Surveyor
and since 1906 had been engaged almost yearly on some type of survey
work for the Dominion Government.
He moved to Ottawa, and became a member of the staff of the
Topographical Survey of Canada.
While in Alberta he was an active member of the Alberta Land Surveyors'
Association and the Professional Engineers of Alberta. He served as
president of the ALSA and for a number of years was the representative
of the Association on the Senate of the University of Alberta.
He died suddenly at Jasper Park on October 16,
1931.
For the previous five years, he had been superintendent of Jasper Park,
where his pleasing personality had made a host of friends.
