Richardson, John M. (1797 - 1882)

Sentenced to 7 years transportation in 1816, arriving in NSW on the Lord Eldon in 1817 where he worked in the fledgling Sydney Gardens. Granted a full pardon by Gov. Macquarie in 1821 and returned to England in charge of a collection of Australian plants on board the Dromedary. Re-convicted, for life, and transported on the Arab to Hobart, Tasmania, in 1822. Shortly afterwards the Colonial Botanist Charles Fraser brought him back to Sydney where he was employed as a gardener at Sydney Botanic Gardens, New South Wales. A member of Oxley's 1823 and 1824 expeditions, he moved to Melville Island (Northern Territory) with his young family in 1826-1828, collecting also on Timor (1826). On returning from Melville Island in 1829 on the Lucy Anne he helped William Baxter collect plants and seeds from King Georges Sound for the Sydney Gardens. Further brushes with the law resulted in lashings and time working on a Road Gang in the Blue Mountains. In 1836 he was collector on Mitchell's expedition, and also collected in New South Wales in later life. He married for the second time, to Catherine Doyle at Singleton, in 1852. His collections are probably in BM, CGE or K.

Extracted from: A.E.Orchard (1999) A History of Systematic Botany in Australia, in Flora of Australia Vol.1, 2nd ed., ABRS. [consult for source references], and Barbara Richardson, pers com.