and of Dorothy, his second wife;
who was the second daughter of Henry Currer,
of Kildwick Hall, in Craven, Esq.

He was born Sept. 26, 1708; married Feb. 13, 1750,
to Dorothy, only daughter and heiress of
William Smallshaw, of Bolton in the Moors, Esq.
by Mary, daughter of John Starkie,

of Huntroyd, in the County of Lancaster, Esq. He died January 30, 1781, S. P. aged 73. He was respected for his attainments as a scholar, and beloved for the peculiar sweetness of his temper.

Here also rests, in humble hope of a blessed Immortality, through the merits of her Saviour, Dorothy Richardson, his widow,

She was born in 1725; died Nov. 27, 1798, aged 73.
Pious, humble, and charitable;

her memory will be long venerated by those
who were assisted by her active kindness,
or benefited by her Christian example.

"I heard a voice from Heaven, saying unto me, Write, blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours, and their works do follow them." Revelations, XIV. 37.

Near this place are deposited

the mortal remains of

William Richardson of Ripon, Esq. M. D.
He was born Feb. 22, 1709-10;
died unmarried at Ripon, 1783.
He was successful in his profession,
of strict integrity; kind to the poor,
and irreproachable in all the relations of life.
His benevolence and meekness of temper
made him beloved in life, and lamented in death.
Above all, he feared God; and, in him,
true faith was accompanied by

Christian obedience.

"Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright; for

the end of that man is peace."

Psalm XXXVII, 37.
The

The following character appeared in the York Newspaper in April 1741:

"On Tuesday last week died, in an advanced age, at his seat at Bierley, near Bradford, in this county, Richard Richardson, Esq. M. D. and F. R. S. He was a gentleman well skilled, and eminently charitable, in the practice of physic; an admired botanist, having the best collection of native and foreign plants in the North of England; highly accomplished in polite literature; and, with the possession of a plentiful fortune, he enjoyed all the qualities necessary to distinguish the good Christian, the friendly neighbour, and the fine gentleman *."

* I cannot resist the temptation of introducing in this place a very just compliment paid to the memory of Dr. Richardson, nearly 50 years after his death, by Dr. Richard Pulteney, a Phy tician of congenial talents :

66

Among those whom Dillenius has recorded in the Preface to the third edition of Ray's Synopsis,' and in his Historia Muscorum,' as having amplified English Botany, the names of the Sherards, and of Dr. Richardson, obtain a superior distinction. The merit of Dr. Richardson, both from his undoubted skill in the science, and his well-known patronage of those who cherished it, demand a more particular commemoration than I am able to give; since I am unacquainted with any further circumstances relating to him, than that he was educated a Physician, and lived at North Bierley in Yorkshire. There he resided upon his own estate, which was ample enough to render the practice of Physic totally unnecessary to his well-being, from any lucrative views. He had travelled into various parts of England, for the investigation of Plants; and had been successful in his tour into Wales, having more especially made discoveries in the Cryptogamia class. His Garden was well stored with Exotics, and with a curious collection of English Plants. He was happily situated to favour his possession of the latter, with which his store was replenished from time to time by the assistance of Samuel Brewer and Thomas Knowlton, both instances of strong attachment to Botanical pursuits, and both resident in the same County.-Dr. Richardson lived in intimacy and correspondence with Sir Hans Sloane, Dr. Dillenius, and other celebrated Botanists of his time—I do not find that he published on his favou rite amusement; but his name occurs frequently in the Philosophical Transactions." Botanical Sketches, 1790, vol. II. p. 185. J. N.

Cleck

Cleck-Heaton, otherwise White-chapel, after lying in ruins for a great number of years, was re-edified by Dr. Richardson, who ordered himself to be buried there; the family burial-place having been for several generations in Bradford church. Among the ruins was found a stone, inscribed, "This is the Old White Chapel in the North," and which is now over the large South door. From this circumstance, and there being a very antient yew-tree in the chapel yard, Archbishop Sharp was so certain that it had been formerly consecrated, that he declined a second consecration: it has had the Queen's bounty, and the presentation is in the heir of the Bierley estate, to whom the chapel-yard belongs; and no one is buried there without leave being asked, but this is never refused.

Dr. Richardson, in private life, was an exemplary son, husband, and father; his mother always resided with him; she died at Bierley, the 6th of October 1708, and was buried at Bradford.

Although a very scientific Botanist, Dr. Richardson never published any thing upon that subject, or left MSS. of any consequence; his discoveries he

* The two following specimens of Dr. Richardson's skilful attention to botanical pursuits remain in Miss Currer's possession: "Delicia Hortenses; sive, Horti Ricardsoniani Index alphabeticus; quô Plantæ omnes quotquot hactenùs horti sui fuere alumnæ, tam Insulæ hujus spontaneæ, quam aliundè delatæ, fideliter in ordinem reducuntur; curâ et studio R. R. M. D. 1696."

"Index Horti Bierleiensis; Plantas tam Britannicas notabiliores quam Exoticas complectens, juxta Raii methodum dispositas. A. C. 1737."

To the "Delicia Hortenses," which are carefully prepared for the press, is prefixed the following Address to the Reader:

Septennium est, et quod excurrit (Lector benevole) ex quo Plantarum culturæ borealibus hisce plagis sedulò animum collocavi; quo autem eventu, sequens Catalogus te abundè satisfaciet, horis tantùm subsecivis exaratus, quo brumalium noctium tedium honestius et jucundius fallerem. Pauca enim te monitum voluit author (L. C.) quid hâc in re præstitit Nomina Plantarum Caspari Bauhini et fratris Johannis, omnibus ferè botanophyllis re

cepta,

communicated to his botanical friends, and his name frequently appears in their works.

The following Papers in the Philosophical Transactions were written by him:

On Subterraneous Trees, or Fossil Wood, at Youlé, near York; No. 128, p. 526, Abridgement, vol. IV. p. 162.

Several Observations in Natural History, made at North Bierley, in Yorkshire, on the Trouts of the Welch Lakes, the Ermine, &c.; No. 337, art, 18, p. 167, Abridgement, vol. VI. p. 45.

An Account of a wonderful Fall of Water from a Spout on the Moors, in Lancashire; No. 363, p. 1097, Abridgement, vol. VI. p. 440.

cepta, plerúmque assecutus fuit, etiamsi rei Botanicæ principiis minùs consentanea. Qui autem nomina Synonyma cupit, Caspari Bauhini Pinacem, Roberti Morisonii et Johannis Raii Historiam Universalem consulat. Methodum alphabeticum secutus fuit, ut Plantarum nomina faciliori negotio, et primo quasi intuitu, reperiet in rebus Botanicis minùs versatus. Plantas autem rariores omnibus authoribus adhuc intactas, tam seminibus enatas, quàm amicorum benevolentiâ acceptas, idoneis nominibus secundum naturæ ductum insignivit, quarum non paucis hoc suum opus concinnavit. Plantas ubique occurrentes in totum omisit, nisi varietate aliqua singulari insignitas; hujus autem Insulæ rarioribus præponitur asteriscus, et aversâ paginâ loca natalia indicantur. Quærat forsan curiosus cur tot plantarum nomina ex catalogo Horti Lugd. Batav. in nostrum transtulerim. Sciat autem me per triennium in ædibus clarissimi Hermanni non sine magno meo commodo et voluptate commorâsse, quo tempore hortos Batavorum instructissimos sæpiùs perlustravi, semina et etiam plantas rariores, tam pretio quam favore, ab hortulanis redemi : mihi tandem in Angliam redeunti, non tantùm ex horto Academico, sed etiam ex privato quæcunque desideravi quàm humanissimè concessit clarissimus Professor; quo magno stirpium rariorum thesauro hortulum nostrum ditavi. Hisce autem non contentus, magnam Angliæ partem, plantarum investigandi gratia, repetitis itineribus peragravi, rariores locis suis spontaneis eradicavi, ut horto nostro essent ornamento. Per Cambriæ montosa doctissimo Lhwidio iter feci, ut plantas à se observatas jucundo sanè spectaculo colligerem. Hisce principiis et aliorum amicorum auxiliis instructus, hortulus noster in tam immensam tandem crevit molem, ut solo et cœlo adeò parùm favente, locum instructiorem nunquam inspexisse, absque jactantiâ audacter asserere queam,"

Concerning

Concerning the Voraciousness of the Squilla Aquæ dulcis, in destroying the young Fry of Carp and Tench in Ponds; No. 433, p. 331, Abridgement, vol. VII. p. 660.

A Case, from Mr. William Wright, Surgeon of Bradford, concerning a large Piece of the Thighbone (5 inches long) taken out, and its place supplied by a Callus.

Dr. Richardson was the intimate Friend of Sir Hans Sloane, and of Boerhaave; and corresponded with many other highly-distinguished characters.

Although many years older, a similarity of pursuits connected him with the late John Blackburn, Esq. of Orford, in the county of Lancaster, grandfather to the present John Blackburn, Esq. Member of Parliament for that county. Mr. Blackburn built the first hot-house in the North of England, and it is recorded by his descendants that he first brought the pine plant into the kingdom. Immediately upon his hot-house being finished, his workmen built one for Dr. Richardson at Bierley. There is now standing, in good health, at Bierley (although within the last fifty years some of the very large lower branches have been torn off by heavy snows), perhaps one of the finest and oldest cedars of Libanus in the kingdom; the trunk, at some distance from the ground, measured, in 1812, twelve feet eight inches in circumference*. This (but the year is not known) was sent, when very young, by Sir Hans Sloane, to Dr. Richardson, who had it planted in a garden-pot, where it remained some years; but, finding whatever strength it gained in summer, it lost by being put into the green-house in winter, Dr. Richardson, tired with nursing it, ordered a large hole to be made in the corner of his flower

In January 1816, this Cedar was measured by the order of Miss F. M. Richardson Currer. At the bottom, near the ground, the circumference was 12 feet, 4 inches; at the top of the solid trunk, 12 feet, 9 inches; in height to where the tree begins to branch out, 14 feet. D. R.

garden,