William Richardson (1749 – 23 March 1822) was an Irish landowner and Member of Parliament.
He was the son of William Richardson (1710–1758) of Rich Hill, County Armagh, Ireland and succeeded him to the Richhill estate when only a minor. He was the great-nephew of another William Richardson, who was Member of Parliament for County Armagh at the time of the Williamite War in Ireland.
He was elected High Sheriff of Armagh in 1777 and sat in the Irish House of Commons for County Armagh, between 1783 and 1797. In 1807 he was elected to sit for County Armagh in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, serving until 1820.
In 1775 Richardson married Dorothea ("Dolly") Monroe (b. 1754), a daughter of Henry Monroe of Roes Hall, Tullylish. She was a noted beauty who while staying in Dublin with her aunt Frances, Lady Loftus, had been courted by Henry Grattan, Sir Hercules Langrishe, Francis Andrews, Provost of Trinity College, and the recently widowed Viceroy Lord Townshend. She had also been painted by Angelica Kauffman and alluded to in a poem by Oliver Goldsmith. Richardson and Dorothea had no children. She died in 1793, aged thirty-nine.
The following year Richardson married Louisa Magenis, daughter of Richard Magenis of Waringstown. They had three daughters, Elizabeth, Isabella and Louisa, who jointly inherited Richhill on their father's death. Only the youngest daughter married (to Edward Bacon, sometime High Sheriff of Armagh), and when she died without heirs in 1881 the estate passed to the Richardsons of Rossfad, near Ballinamallard in County Fermanagh.
References
- ^ Burke, Bernard (1912). A genealogical and heraldic history of the landed gentry of Ireland.
- Burke, Bernard (1899). A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry of Ireland. Harrison & sons. p. 291. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
- leighrayment.com
- leighrayment.com
- http://www.armaghorange.co.uk/no2.htm
- http://www.poyntzpass.co.uk/Before_I_Forget/2003_No_9/Dolly_Monroe.pdf
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byHenry Caulfeild William Brownlow |
Member of Parliament for County Armagh 1807 – 1820 With: William Brownlow to 1815 Henry Caulfeild 1815–1818 Charles Brownlow from 1818 |
Succeeded byCharles Brownlow Henry Caulfeild |
- 1749 births
- 1822 deaths
- People from County Armagh
- High sheriffs of Armagh
- Irish MPs 1783–1790
- Irish MPs 1790–1797
- Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Armagh constituencies (1801–1922)
- Tory MPs (pre-1834)
- UK MPs 1807–1812
- UK MPs 1812–1818
- UK MPs 1818–1820
- Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Armagh constituencies