garden, at a little distance from the front of his house, and to be filled with very good earth, in which the cedar was planted, and still remains. Among his principal Correspondents on the subjects of Botany and Natural History (to take them in the order of time in which they flourished) were, Willoughby, Ray2, Bobart3, Uvedale, Petiver1, Sloane, Lhwyd, Leigh, Morton, +Knowlton, Consul Sherard, Dr. James Sherard, Dillenius, Brewer, Short, Rand, Miller, Blackstone, and Blackburn 5. To these may be added, the Earl of Derby, Lord Petre, Buddle, Chambers, Galbreath, Rev. T. Petre, Pashley7, Sutherland, Vernon, and Wood 10. Among his Antiquarian and Classical Correspondents were, Mr. Robert Baynes, Dr. Arthur Charlett, Dr. Francis Drake, Mr. Marmaduke Fothergill, honest Tom Hearne, Dr. Richard Frewin, Rev. Richard Rauthmell, and ‡ Rev. Ralph Thoresby. With all these eminent persons Dr. Richardson was in the regular habit of corresponding; and many Letters from most of them are still in the possession of Miss Currer 12. 'Francis Willoughby, the celebrated Ornithologist. Of whom see the " Literary Anecdotes," vol. I. p. 144; and Pulteney's "Botanical Sketches," vol. I. pp. 236-270. 3 Pulteney, pp. 295–311. Of all the names thus marked, some farther notice will be taken hereafter. • Pulteney, vol. II. p. 31. See before, p. 238. • Dr. Chambers, a Physician resident at Hull. 7 Mr. William Pashley, a noted Florist. Mr. James Sutherland, Professor of Botany at Edinburgh. • Of St. Peter's College, Cambridge. "Of Edinburgh; a good Botanist. " Of Browsholme in Bolland. 12 By the liberality of that worthy lady, a good Portrait of Dr. Richardson accompanies this Memoir; and extracts from the Letters of many of his Correspondents will be given in the subsequent pages. Those from the more antient Botanists, conscious of my inability to do justice to the subject, I have not ventured to abridge. Dr. Dr. Richardson's medical practice was very extensive, and employed most of his time, except what he spared in writing to his numerous Corre spondents, taking botanic excursions, and more especially in the culture of his flower-garden, hothouse, and green-house. He had an excellent wife, who managed all his domestic concerns. Their children were, 1. William; born 1706, died 1707. 2. Richard Richardson, Esq. of Bierley, born there the 26th of September 1708. He was educated at Bradford school; afterwards of Brazenose College, Oxford, in which University he took his Bachelor's Degree in Physic. He studied under Boerhaave* at Leyden; but never practised Physic (though he was eminently skilful) except among his tenants and poor neighbours, for whose use he kept all necessary drugs. He was Deputy Lieutenant, and in the Commission of the Peace for the West Riding of the county of York. On the 13th of February 1750, at Bolton in the Moors, in the county of Lancaster, he married Dorothy, daughter and heiress of William Smallshaw, of that place, Gent. by whom he had no issue. She died, at Lancelot Iveson's, Esq. at Black Bank, the 27th of November 1798; and was buried at Cleck-Heaton Chapel. He died at Bierley the 30th of January 1781; and was buried at Cleck-Heaton Chapel. He was a man of most amiable manners and scientific taste, purchased a very valuable Collection of Pictures by See several Letters to him from his Father, p. 257. † He quitted Leyden with the following handsome testimonial: "RICHARDUS RICHARDSONUS, Britannus, eximii patris egregius filius, decursu trium annorum in Academiâ nostra, insignia dedit virtutis, diligentiæ, & eruditionis præclaræ, documenta. Ita quidem, ut discedens sui desiderium reliquerit, omnibusque spem fecerit maximam bonorum, quæ ab felici ingenio, sapientissime exculto, in Artem Medicam redundare queant. Faxit Deus diù incolumem qui tanto tempore singulari curâ observatus, probatus fuit. H. BOERHAAVE: Leyda, Sept. 25, 1733." the the first Masters *; also of Coins; and made large additions to his father's Library, which was rich in Botany and Natural History, and to which he added Classics and Prints, all which are now in the possession of his great niece, Miss Currer. With several of his Father's old Friends Mr. Richardson continued to correspond; and I have now before me Letters addressed to him principally * List of the finest Pictures in the Collection formed by the late Richard Richardson, Esq. at Bierley Hall. A Holy Family. Raeffaele d' Urbino. Was an Altar-piece belonging to a Convent abroad, and is in the original carved frame. St. John the Baptist preaching in the Wilderness. Guido. Landscape with Figures. "Thy daughter is dead, why troublest thou the master any further?" Mark v. 35. Francisco Meilly. Has been engraved. In the engraving it is said to be from St. John, iv. 4-6; but the countenance of the father is certainly expressive of grief, rather than of joy. Landscape. Lambert. Has been engraved. Cymon and Iphigenia. Rubens. Probably one of the finest Cabinet Pictures of this master in existence. Landscape. Ruins; and an Angel appearing to St. Jerome. Gobbo Carrachi. The Figures by Annibal Carrachi. A Christian Vessel boarded by the Turks. Pietro da Cortona. The Martyrdom of St. Justina. Paul Veronese. This is said to be the original sketch of the celebrated Picture at St. Mark's, Venice. Holy Family, with a Dance of Angels. Has been engraved. Vandyke. Dutch Boors drinking. Jan Stein. Midas, Bacchus, and Silenus. Domenichino. Landscape with lightning. Gaspar Poussin. Landscape. Nicholas Poussin. Cattle in Landscape. Vambloom. Horses standing at a Blacksmith's door. Huysman. Inside of a Church at Antwerp. Steenwick. Old Man's Head; reading by candlelight. Schalken. Landscape. Both. Shipwreck. Vandervelde. The Battle of the Centaurs and Lapithæ. Lucca Giordano. A Fresh Gale. Peeters. A Sea Piece, Moonlight; a Ship on Fire. Backhuysen. The Duchess of Portsmouth, half length. Sir Peter Lely. Is now engraving for Mr. Lodge's "Portraits of Illustrious Persons of Great Britain." VOL. I. R on on subjects of taste, from Dr. John Bedford of Durham, Dr. John Burton of York, Mr. Angel Carmey, Dr. Hird, Physician at Leeds, Dr. Cyril Jackson of Halifax, Mr. Gerard Vandergucht, the Rev. John Watson, and Mr. Thomas Wilson*. The following character appeared in the Provincial Newspapers: "Tuesday last, died, at Bierley, in the 73d year of his age, Richard Richardson, Esq. a gentleman highly esteemed for his sweetness of temper, and his refined taste in the polite arts." 3. William Richardson, M. D. was born at Bierley the 22d of February 1709; and educated at Bradford School, from whence he removed to St. John's College, Cambridge, where he took his Bachelor and Doctor of Physic's degrees; and along with his elder brother, studied under Boerhaave at Leyden. He settled at Ripon in the county of York, where he was in extensive practice, until bad health obliged him to decline his profession in the prime of life. He was universally beloved and respected by a very numerous acquaintance, and inherited his father's taste for botany and natural history. He wrote two Papers in the Philosophical Transactions: An Essay on the Force of Percussion, vol. LVIII. p. 17, Abridgment, vol. XII. p. 498. Observations on the Aphides of Linnæus, vol. LXI. p. 182, Abridgment, vol. XIII. p. 120. At the death of his elder brother he succeeded to the family estates; but his brother's widow choosing to remain at Bierley, he continued to live at Ripon, and died there unmarried, the 23rd of July 1783, and was buried at Cleck-Heaton chapel. 4. The Rev. Henry Richardson, M. A. born at Bierley the 24th of March 1710, was educated at Bradford school, from thence removed to University *Some of these shall be noticed hereafter. †M. B. there, 1736; M. D. 1741. College, College, Oxford, where he took his degree of A. M. in 1736. He was Rector of Thornton in Craven, upon the presentation of Sir John Lister Kaye, his brother-in-law. On the 2d of December 1747, he married, at Oldham in the county of Lancaster, Mary, daughter and heiress of Benjamin Dawson, merchant, of that place; by whom he had two sons, and two daughters, of whom below. She died at Gargrave in Craven, the 3rd of April 1800, aged 82, and was buried at Thornton, near her husband, who died there March 27, 1778. A very handsome monument is erected to their memories, on which is this inscription : Here, waiting for a joyful Resurrection, of the Rev. Henry Richardson, A. M. He was third surviving son of Richard Richardson, of Bierley, M. D. and Dorothy, daughter of Henry Currer, of Kildwick, Esq.; was born the 24th of March 1710; married on the 2d of December, 1747, to Mary daughter and heir of Benjamin Dawson, of Oldham, in the county of Lancaster, merchant; by whom he had issue Ricbard, who died at Lisbon, unmarried, and Mary, the wife of the Rev. Willian Roundell, A. M. Near this place also rests the body Their grand-daughter Frances-Mary Richardson-Currer dedicates this memorial to their memories. |