Born in 1847, Richardson was the son of Major General
Joseph Fletcher Richardson He joined the
38th (1st Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot as a
second-lieutenant on 23 March 1866 and took part in the
Hazara expedition in 1868. He was promoted to
lieutenant on 5 March 1869 and transferred to the
British Indian Army, where he was attached to the
18th King George's Own Lancers in 1871. Promoted to
captain on 30 January 1878, he fought in the
Second Anglo-Afghan War between 1879 and 1880 and took part in the
Waziri expedition in 1881. He was promoted to
major on 2 March 1881. He joined in the
Zhob Valley Field Force in 1890 and following promotion to
lieutenant-colonel on 23 March 1892, he served as commanding officer of the 18th King George's Own Lancers between 1892 and 1898. He was promoted to
colonel on 23 March 1896, served with the
Flying Column in
Kurram Valley between 1897 and 1898 and then took part in the Tirah expedition. In early 1900 he acted as Colonel on the Staff at
Rawalpindi, a position he was officially appointed to on 21 February 1900. From April to July 1900 he acted as Colonel on the Staff at
Delhi, then fought with the
Cavalry Brigade in China between 1900 and 1901, where he led the final assault on
Peking during the
Boxer Rebellion. In late 1902 he commanded a brigade at
Shanghai, with the temporary rank of
major-general. Richardson's military career however did not end with retirement from the Indian army. In 1913 he agreed to command the then newly formed Ulster Volunteer Force, created to fight Irish
Home rule, and oversaw the
Larne gun-running. Richardson died in 1931. ==Honours==