John Maunsell Richardson JP DL (

Great Limber Great Limber is a village and civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 271. It is on the A18, west from Grimsby and 8 miles east from Brigg. In 1885 ''Kelly ...

, Caistor, Lincolnshire 12 June 1846 –

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

, London, 22 January 1912), known to his friends as the "Cat", was a cricketer who played

First-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

for Cambridge University, Member of Parliament and a

steeplechase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...

jockey who won two Grand Nationals as a rider in the 1870s. Richardson was educated at Harrow and

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

Cricket

Maunsell Richardson played alongside future England

Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

and

Rugby Union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

captain

A.N. Hornby Albert Neilson Hornby, nicknamed Monkey Hornby (10 February 1847 – 17 December 1925) was one of the best-known sportsmen in England during the nineteenth century excelling in both rugby and cricket. He was the first of only two men to captain ...

for Harrow in both the 1864 and 1865

Eton v Harrow The Eton v Harrow cricket match is an annual match between public school rivals Eton College and Harrow School. It is one of the longest-running annual sporting fixtures in the world and is the last annual school cricket match still to be pla ...

cricket matches, contributing 29 and 24 in innings victories over Eton. Richardson made his first-class debut for Gentlemen of England against Oxford University in 1866, playing in the same team as another future England captain in a 17-year-old

W.G. Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English amateur cricketer who was important in the development of the sport and is widely considered one of its greatest players. He played first-class cricket for a record-equal ...

. Richardson played for

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

in 3 successive University Matches against

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

from 1866 to 1868. In 1866, Richardson contributed 8 and 6 in a 12 run defeat, 3 and 8 in a 5 wicket victory in 1867 and 3 and 14 in a 168 run victory in 1868. Richardson's last first-class cricket match was for the

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence ...

(MCC) v

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

in 1874. MCC beat a strong Nottinghamshire side that included future England captain

Alfred Shaw Alfred Shaw (29 August 1842 – 16 January 1907) was an eminent Victorian cricketer and rugby footballer, who bowled the first ball in Test cricket and was the first to take five wickets in a Test innings (5/35). He made two trips to North Ameri ...

by 6 wickets.

Grand Nationals

Richardson was one of the great gentleman riders of his day having 56 winners in 1872, in addition he trained race horses at his Limber Magna stables. He won the

1873 Events January–March * January 1 ** Japan adopts the Gregorian calendar. ** The California Penal Code goes into effect. * January 17 – American Indian Wars: Modoc War: First Battle of the Stronghold – Modoc Indians defeat ...

and

1874 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes The Bronx. * January 2 – Ignacio María González becomes head of state of the Dominican Republic for the first time. * January 3 – Third Carlist War &ndas ...

Grand Nationals riding horses he had trained being

Disturbance Disturbance and its variants may refer to: Math and science * Disturbance (ecology), a temporary change in average environmental conditions that causes a pronounced change in an ecosystem * Disturbance (geology), linear zone of faults and folds ...

and Reugny. Both were owned by James Octavius Machell with whom he fell out when Machell tried to manipulated the betting for the 1874 race. Richardson was so offended at the proposal made to him and disgusted with the sordid nature of the whole business that he made up his mind that, win or lose, his race on Reugny should be his last.

Member of Parliament

Richardson won the

1894 Events January–March * January 4 – A military alliance is established between the French Third Republic and the Russian Empire. * January 7 – William Kennedy Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film in the United S ...

by-election for Brigg, but lost that seat in the General election in the following year.

Family

In 1881, Richardson married Victoria Alexandrina (née Hare), the Countess of Yarborough and widow of his friend Charles Anderson-Pelham, 3rd Earl of Yarborough, who had died six years earlier. His wife, though legally Victoria Richardson, continued to be known as Victoria, Countess of Yarborough. They had one son, John Richardson.

References

External links

Wisden Obituary
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, John Maunsell 1846 births 1912 deaths People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge English cricketers of 1864 to 1889 Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Cambridge University cricketers People from West Lindsey District British sportsperson-politicians Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1892–1895 English jockeys Deputy Lieutenants of Lincolnshire British racehorse trainers English cricketers Gentlemen of England cricketers Cricketers from Lincolnshire