| Entry Type | Person |
| Surname | Richardson |
| Forenames | John |
| Pre Title | Sir |
| Epithet | physician, naturalist and Arctic explorer |
| Dates | 1787-1865 |
| Gender Identity | Male |
| History | He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh; he became a naval surgeon in 1807; he was appointed in 1814 surgeon to the Royal Marines in North America; he was appointed naturalist and surgeon to John Franklin's overland Arctic expeditions of 1819-1821 and 1825-1826; he became chief medical officer of Melville Hospital, Chatham in 1828; he was appointed senior physician of the Royal Naval Hospital at Portsmouth in 1838, where he lived for most of the next 17 years; he was knighted in 1846; he was commander of one of the Franklin search expeditions (1848-1849); he retired from active duty in 1855 |
| Relationships | Eldest of 12 children of Gabriel Richardson and his wife Anne (Mundell); he married first Mary Stiven or Stevens (1818-1832), then Mary Booth (1833), by whom he had 7 children, and thirdly Mary Fletcher (1847) |
| Key Events | Born at Dumfries, Scotland, 5 Nov 1787; died at Grasmere, Westmorland, 5 June 1865 |
| Source | Dictionary of Canadian Biography Vol 9 by R.E. Johnson, 1976 (online); Encyclopaedia Britannica 1911 (online) |
| Authorised Form of Name | Richardson; Sir; John (1787-1865); physician, naturalist and Arctic explorer |
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