Thomas Richardson (6 June 1821 – 29 December 1890) was an English manufacturer of marine engines and

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

politician.

Life

Richardson was born in

Castle Eden Castle Eden is a village in County Durham, in England. The population of the parish at the 2011 census was 642. It is situated a short distance to the south of Peterlee, Wingate, Hutton Henry, the A19 and Castle Eden Dene. The village is famou ...

County Durham County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly �About North East E ...

, the son of Thomas Richardson, a shipbuilder and owner of an engineering works in

Hartlepool Hartlepool () is a seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Borough of Hartlepool. With an estimated population of 90,123, it is the second-largest settlement in County ...

. Richardson began as an apprentice in his father's iron foundry in Castle Eden. On the death of his father in 1850, Richardson and his brother John took over the business which traded under the name of T. Richardson Sons. Their business was manufacturing

marine engine An inboard motor is a marine propulsion system for boats. As opposed to an outboard motor where an engine is mounted outside the hull of the craft, an ''inboard motor'' is an engine enclosed within the hull of the boat, usually connected to a pr ...

s, after they built their first marine engine in 1851. They were also shipbuilders for a short time, but this side of the company went out of business in 1857. Richardson stood unsuccessfully for

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in the newly enfranchised borough of

The Hartlepools The Hartlepools was a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. The constituency became Hartlepool in 1974. The seat's name reflected the representation of both old Hartlepool and West Hartlepool. Hist ...

at the 1868 general election. He won the seat at the 1874 general election, but for financial reasons he

resigned Resignation is the formal act of leaving or quitting one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or choos ...

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. ...

in July 1875 by taking the

Chiltern Hundreds The Chiltern Hundreds is an ancient administrative area in Buckinghamshire, England, composed of three " hundreds" and lying partially within the Chiltern Hills. "Taking the Chiltern Hundreds" refers to one of the legal fictions used to effect r ...

He was re-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 of ...

(MP) for The Hartlepools at the 1880 general election, and held the seat until his death in December 1890, aged 69. When The Liberals split over

Irish Home Rule The Irish Home Rule movement was a movement that campaigned for Devolution, self-government (or "home rule") for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It was the dominant political movement of Irish nationalism from 1 ...

in 1885, Richardson joined the breakaway

Liberal Unionist Party The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...

, and was returned in

1886 Events January–March * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5– 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson's novella ''Strange ...

as a Liberal Unionist. Richardson lived at Kirklevington Grange in

Yarm Yarm, also referred to as Yarm-on-Tees, is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. It was previously a port town before the industry moved down the River Tees to more accessible settlements ne ...

until he built Kirklevington Hall in 1884. He was a J. P. and Deputy Lieutenant for County Durham and a J.P. for the North Riding of Yorkshire.Debrett's House of Commons and Judicial Bench 1886
/ref> He was a member of the Hartlepool Port and Harbour Commissioners. He was also president of Hartlepools Bicycle Club,
/ref>

Family

Richardson married Maria Greenwell, the daughter of Richard Greenwell, a Sunderland shipowner, in 1843. They had two daughters and four sons.

References

External links

* 1821 births 1890 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1874–1880 UK MPs 1880–1885 UK MPs 1885–1886 Liberal Unionist Party MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1886–1892 People from Yarm Deputy Lieutenants of Durham 19th-century English businesspeople {{England-Liberal-UK-MP-stub