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Record
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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