Sir Philip Wigham Richardson, 1st Baronet, (26 January 1865 – 23 November 1953) was a British

sport shooter Shooting sports is a group of competitive and recreational sporting activities involving proficiency tests of accuracy, precision and speed in shooting — the art of using ranged weapons, mainly small arms (firearms and airguns, in forms such as ...

and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

politician. He was the first son of

John Wigham Richardson John Wigham Richardson (7 January 1837 – 15 April 1908) was a British shipbuilder on Tyneside during the late 19th and early 20th century. Career Richardson was born on 7 January 1837, the son of devout Quakers Edward Richardson and Ja ...

, the shipbuilder from

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

. He also competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics and the 1912 Summer Olympics.

Biography

Richardson was born on 26 January 1865 in

, the eldest son of shipbuilder

. He was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...

and

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...

. He joined the shipbuilding company his father had founded on Tyneside in 1859. He was made a director in 1891 and continued to be a director after the amalgamation of his company with C. S. Swan and Hunter, Ltd., to form the shipbuilding and engineering company of Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson. During his association with the company he travelled extensively in search of orders and continued to serve as a director after he retired from the chairmanship of the company, a position which he occupied from 1945 to 1949. He married Rosa América Colorado from Cuba in 1891 with whom he had three children, John Edward Colorado Richardson (1892), William Wigham Richardson (1893) George Wigham Richardson (1895). He divorced his first wife in 1897. In 1909 he married Bertha Anne Greenley with whom he had one daughter Irene Geraldine Wigham. Richardson competed in the 1908 Summer Olympics and 1912 Summer Olympics. In the 1908 Olympics he won a silver medal in the team military rifle event. Four years later he was 65th in the 300 metre military rifle, three positions event and 33rd in the 600 metre free rifle event. Appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1919, he was knighted in 1921. Richardson was elected as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for

Chertsey Chertsey is a town in the Borough of Runnymede, Surrey, England, south-west of central London. It grew up round Chertsey Abbey, founded in 666 CE, and gained a market charter from Henry I. A bridge across the River Thames first appeared in t ...

at a by-election in March 1922, and held the seat until he retired from the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

at the 1931 general election. On 26 July 1929 he was created a Baronet, of

Weybridge Weybridge () is a town in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. The settlement is recorded as ''Waigebrugge'' and ''Weibrugge'' in the 7th century and the name derives from a crossing point of the ...

in the County of Surrey. He led a colourful life travelling very widely around the world especially in Latin America, Africa, India and Eastern Europe. He drove across the Sahara desert in 1937 and piloted his own light aircraft. In 1952 he published his autobiography, ''It happened to me: Being the reminiscences of Sir Philip Wigham Richardson''. He died at his home in Weybridge on the night of 23 November 1953, aged 88.

References

*Kidd, Charles, Williamson, David (editors). ''Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage'' (1990 edition). New York: St Martin's Press, 1990. * *

External links

*
Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, Philip 1865 births 1953 deaths British male sport shooters Olympic shooters of Great Britain Shooters at the 1908 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1912 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1918–1922 UK MPs 1922–1923 UK MPs 1923–1924 UK MPs 1924–1929 UK MPs 1929–1931 Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Olympic medalists in shooting Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics British sportsperson-politicians