Richard F. R. Tolson fonds

Richard Tolson was born in Bedford, N.S. in 1899. He graduated from Maritime Business College, taking the train into Halifax every day. He sold hard and soft coal through Tolson Coal and Coke and worked with the Maritime Preserving Co. before going into real estate. He was involved with the development and sale of land belonging to the St. Paul’s School for Girls, and sold Tolson land for the building of Bedford Tower office complex. Richard Tolson served on the County Planning Board for eight years and the Unemployment Insurance Commission Board for 28 years. He was an avid horseman and hockey player; he co-owned shares in the Sackville Raceway Ltd., and was an active curler with the Halifax Curling Club. Richard Tolson married Elsie Churchill in the mid-1930s. In the late 1940s, they bought and restored Fort Sackville in Bedford.