Robert Richardson - D.D.
Biography
Birth: 1731
Death: 1781
Son of William Richardson, the sometime Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He graduated B.A. from Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1750, M.A. in 1753 and D.D. in 1766. Reverend of Wallington, Hertforshird (1759-1781). Chaplain-in-ordinary to the King in the Presbytery of Lincoln (1762-81). Reverend of All Hallows-the-Great, London (1776-1778). Reverend of St Anne's, Westminster (1778-1781). Chaplain for several years to Sir Joseph Yorke, British ambassador at the Hague.
Life with James Boswell
Boswell met Richardson on December 25, 1763, at the Hague. He received the sacrament from Richardson on that day, and it was also the first time he received the communion in the Church of England.1 Boswell took an immediate liking to Richardson, describing him as "affable and decent". In a letter to John Johnston (of January 20, 1764), he wrote that "[Richardson] is just the genteel, amiable, Church-of-England clergyman whom I have heard you say that you would like to have in your house, were you a man of great fortune". Boswell and Richardson met several other times during the latter part of Boswell's stay in Holland.
Notes
Sources: Alumni Cantabrigienses - Available online at Ancestry.co.uk - sign up now for a free trial.
Note 1: Boswell had converted to Catholicism in 1760, and, although he didn't profess to be a catholic for more than a few months, he didn't seem to convert again until this day.
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