John Richardson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1787-11-05)5 November 1787 Dumfries, Scotland |
| Died | 5 June 1865(1865-06-05) (aged 77) |
| Alma mater | Edinburgh University |
| Awards | Royal Medal (1856) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | Richardson |
Sir John RichardsonFRSFRSE (5 November 1787 – 5 June 1865) was aScottishnaval surgeon,naturalist andArcticexplorer.[1]
Richardson was born at Nith Place inDumfries the son of Gabriel Richardson, Provost of Dumfries, and his wife, Anne Mundell. He was educated at Dumfries Grammar School. He was then apprenticed to his maternal uncle, Dr James Mundell, a surgeon in Dumfries.[2]
Richardson studiedmedicine atEdinburgh University, and became a surgeon in the navy in 1807. He traveled withJohn Franklin in search of theNorthwest Passage on theCoppermine Expedition of 1819–1822. Richardson wrote the sections ongeology,botany andichthyology for the official account of the expedition.[1]
Franklin and Richardsonreturned to Canada in 1825 and went overland by fur trade routes to the mouth of theMackenzie River. Franklin was to go as far west as possible and Richardson was to go east to the mouth of theCoppermine River. These were the only known points on the central coast and had been reached in 1793 and 1771 respectively. He had with him two specially-built boats which were more ocean-worthy than the voyageur canoes used by Franklin on his previous expedition. They gave their names to theDolphin and Union Strait near the end of his route.
Richardson's journey was successful and he reached his furthest east the same day that Franklin reached his furthest west (16 August 1826). He abandoned his boats atBloody Falls and trekked overland toFort Franklin which he reached three weeks before Franklin. Together they had surveyed 1,878 mi (3,022 km) of previously unmapped coast. The natural history discoveries of this expedition were so great that they had to be recorded in two separate works, theFlora Boreali-Americana (1833–40), written byWilliam Jackson Hooker, and theFauna Boreali-Americana (1829–37), written by Richardson,William Swainson,John Edward Gray andWilliam Kirby.[1]
At theBritish Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in 1842, Richardson described thediving apparatus and treatment of diver Roderick Cameron following an injury that occurred on 14 October 1841 during the salvage operations onHMS Royal George.[3]
Richardson was knighted byQueen Victoria in 1846. He traveled withJohn Rae on anunsuccessful search for Franklin in 1848–49, describing it inAn Arctic Searching Expedition (1851).
Richardson retired to theLake District in 1855. While there, Richardson (helped by his daughter Beatrice) sent words for inclusion in theOxford English Dictionary. This was in response to a public appeal by editorJames Murray for volunteers to contribute words; several thousand were recruited. Richardson's contribution totalled 23,568. The stories of many such volunteers are told by Sarah Ogilvie in her bookThe Dictionary People.
Richardson died at his home Lancrigg House north ofGrasmere on 5 June 1865, and is buried atSt Oswald's Church, Grasmere.[1]
Richardson married three times: firstly in 1818 to Mary Stiven; secondly in 1833 to Mary Booth; and finally in 1847 to Mary Fletcher.[2]
Richardson also wrote accounts dealing with the natural history, and especially theichthyology, of several other Arctic voyages, and was the author ofIcones Piscium (1843),Catalogue of Apodal Fish in the British Museum (1856), the second edition ofYarrell'sHistory of British Fishes (1860),The Polar Regions (1861).[1] andArctic Ordeal: The Journal of John Richardson Edited by C. Stuart Houston (1984). The National Marine Biological Library at theMarine Biological Association retains some original illustrations used by Richardson in preparation for the second edition of Yarrell's book.[4]
Richardson is commemorated in thescientific names of fourspecies of reptiles:
The mammal species
