Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 48.djvu/228

 tana.’ In 1834 he issued the prospectus of a ‘New English Dictionary,’ and the work itself was published by Pickering in parts between January 1835 and the spring of 1837. The dictionary is a republication of the lexicon, with improvements and additions. Richardson's principle was to arrive at the original and proper meaning which was inherent in a word from its etymology. He was severely taken to task by Webster in his ‘Mistakes and Corrections’ (1837), especially for his ignorance of oriental languages. ‘Tooke's principle,’ wrote Webster, ‘that a word has one meaning, and one only, and that from this all usages must spring, is substantially correct; but he has, in most cases, failed to find that meaning, and you [Richardson] have rarely or never advanced a step beyond him.’ The spelling was antiquated, the etymologies frequently wrong; sounds were not distinguished by signs; the wrong word often headed the lemma. Nevertheless, the work was generally received with much favour, especially by the ‘Quarterly’ and the ‘Gentleman's Magazine.’ An abridged 8vo edition, without the quotations, appeared in 1839, with a new preface, but uncorrected. In quotations from authors the dictionary was far more copious than any previous work of its class in English.

Richardson gave up his school after 1827, and thenceforth lived at Lower Tulse Hill, Norwood. Before 1859 he removed to 23 Torrington Square. In 1853 a pension of 75l. a year was granted to him from the civil list. He died at Feltham on Friday, 6 Oct. 1865, and was buried in his mother's grave at Clapham. The bust of Horne Tooke at University College, by Chantrey, was bequeathed by him.

He married Elizabeth, widow of Daniel Terry, the actor, whose son was at his school. She died in 1863, and to her daughter Jane he bequeathed his house at Tulse Hill.

In addition to the above works, he published a book on the study of language, being an explanation of the ‘Diversions of Purley’ (1854). He also contributed several papers to the ‘Gentleman's Magazine,’ and wrote essays on ‘English Grammar and English Grammarians,’ and on ‘Fancy and Imagination.’

[Notes and Queries, 8th ser. v. 144 s.v. ‘John M. Morton;’ Gent. Mag. 1865 ii. 796; Mr. H. B. Wheatley in Philological Soc. Transactions, 1865; Quarterly Review, li. 172; Times, 12 Oct. 1865; Richardson's will and publications.]  RICHARDSON, CHARLES JAMES (1806–1871), architect, born in 1806, was a pupil of Sir John Soane [q. v.] From 1845 to 1852 he was master of the architectural class in the school of design at Somerset House. In 1852 he designed the Earl of Harrington's mansion in Kensington Palace Gardens; in 1853 he carried out various works at Belsize Park, Hampstead, and in 1856 a block of mansions in Queen's Gate, Hyde Park, for W. Jackson. He died in 1871.

In the library of the South Kensington Museum is a collection of 549 original drawings by English architects, formed by Richardson, with several volumes of studies, including tracings from designs by Vanbrugh, R. Adam, Thorpe, and Tatham, and drawings of buildings, furniture, and ornaments, chiefly of the Elizabethan period. In the Soane Museum, Lincoln's Inn Fields, are a sketchbook of views and details of his house at Ealing, and a collection of the drawings which he used at his architectural lectures. In the British Museum Library are two volumes of proofs of Richardson's designs, from the ‘Builder.’ Richardson published: 1. ‘Holbein's Ceiling of the Chapel Royal, St. James's,’ 1837. 2. ‘Observations on the Architecture of England during the Reigns of Queen Elizabeth and James I,’ 1837. 3. ‘A Design for raising Holborn Valley,’ 1837; reissued in 1863. 4. ‘A Popular Treatise on the Warming and Ventilation of Buildings,’ 1837. 5. ‘Description of Warming Apparatus,’ 1839. 6. ‘Architectural Remains of the Reigns of Elizabeth and James I,’ 1840. 7. ‘Studies from Old English Mansions,’ 4 vols. 1841–8. 8. ‘The Workman's Guide to the Study of Old English Architecture,’ 1845. 9. ‘A Letter to the Council of the Head Government School of Design,’ 1846. 10. ‘Studies of Ornamental Design,’ 1851. 11. ‘The Smoke Nuisance and its Remedy,’ 1869. 12. ‘The Englishman's House, from a Cottage to a Mansion,’ 1870.

[Dict. of Architecture; Brit. Mus. Library Catalogue; Universal Catalogue of Books on Art, Science and Art Department, South Kensington, 1870.]  RICHARDSON, CHARLOTTE CAROLINE (1775–1850?), poetess, born at York on 5 March 1775, of poor parents named Smith, received a meagre education at the Greycoat school, York, a charitable institution where the girls were chiefly trained for domestic service. In July 1790 she obtained a situation, and remained in service at various houses until 31 Oct. 1802, when she married a shoemaker named Richardson, to whom she had long been attached. Shortly after the marriage Richardson was found to be suffering from consumption. He died in 1804, leaving his widow destitute, with a two-