Richardson was born to John Robert and Nellie Richardson, and was educated at
Nottingham High School and
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. He served during the
Second World War and became a Member of the
Order of the British Empire, Military Division, in 1944. He was called to the bar at
Gray's Inn in 1946, becoming a member of the Bar Council between 1951 and 1955, but abandoned law for a career in the
City of London. He became a director of
J. Henry Schroder & Co in 1957, and was later chairman between 1962 and 1973. He was appointed Governor of the Bank of England in 1973, and remained in that position until 1983. November 1973 saw a run on London and County Securities, marking the start of the
secondary banking crisis. While serving as governor, Richardson joined the
Privy Council (1976) and was awarded the
Territorial Decoration (1979). He was created a
life peer as
Baron Richardson of Duntisbourne, of Duntisbourne in the County of
Gloucestershire, and a Knight Companion of the
Order of the Garter, both in 1983. In February 1978, Richardson delivered the inaugural
Mais Lecture, entitled "Reflections on the Conduct of Monetary Policy". Since then, the annual lecture has come to be regarded as a leading event in the banking and financial community of the City of London, hosting each of the subsequent
Bank of England Governors, as well as
Prime Ministers,
Chancellors of the Exchequer, and European Central Bankers. Richardson was a member of the
Morgan Stanley advisory board from 1984. Between 1985 and 1991, he was a member of the
Group of Thirty, and thereafter remained as their Honorary Chair. He was chairman of the
Pilgrim Trust from 1984 to 1989. On the evening of 22 January 2010, the Bank of England released a statement announcing Richardson's death. ==Coat of arms==