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Public figure Richard William Heneker was born in Dublin, Ireland on 2 May 1823. In 1856 he married Elizabeth Tuson; they had three sons. He trained as an architect at University College School in London, where he studied with Sir Charles Barry, the architect responsible for the new Parliament Buildings at Westminster and for the Westminster Bridge. Heneker left England for Sherbrooke, Quebec in 1855 to take up the position of Commissioner of the British American Land Company, a post he held till 1902, when he returned to England. During the period of his residence in Quebec, Heneker was active in many fields. In 1866, he and Sir George Stephen, Benjamin Pomroy, John Henry Pope, Alex Mitchell, and Andrew Paton founded the Paton Manufacturing Company. Besides his involvement in railway development, he was President of the Eastern Townships Bank, Sherbrooke Gas, Water and Electric Light Company, and the Sherbrooke and Magog Road Company. As well, Heneker was active in Sherbrooke politics. From 1864 to 1869 and from 1876 to 1883, he sat on Sherbrooke's town council, holding the office of Mayor from January 1868 to November 1869 and in January-February 1877. He also played a role in education both locally and provincially. He was a member of the Corporation of University of Bishop's College from 1858 and served as the University's Chancellor from 1878 to 1900; as well an associate member of the Protestant Committee of the Council of Public Instruction of Quebec in 1876, a member of the Council of Public Instruction in 1881, and Chairman of the Protestant Committee in 1892. A further noteworthy achievement of Heneker's is the founding of the Sherbrooke Protestant Hospital of which he was the first President. In 1902, Heneker returned to England, where he died on 18 August 1912.