RICHARDSON, Sir John, Scottish naturalist, born in Dumfries, Scotland, 5 November, 1787; died near Grasmere, Scotland, 5 June, 1865. He studied in the medical department of the University of Edinburgh, entered the navy as assistant surgeon in 1807, and was at the taking of Copenhagen. He was surgeon and naturalist to Sir John Franklin in his arctic expeditions in 1819-'22 and 1825-'7, and in the latter, with one detachment of the party, explored the coast east of Mackenzie river to the mouth of Coppermine river. He commanded one of the three expeditions that went in search of Sir John Franklin in 1848, and returned in November, 1849. He retired from the navy in 1855. His most important work is the " Farina Boreali Americana," in which he was assisted by William Swainson and William Kirby (4 vols., London, 1829-'37). He also. is the author of the" Arctic Searching Expedition, . a Journal of Boat Voyage through Rupert's Land " (2 vols., 1851), and "The Polar Regions" (Edinburgh, 1861). See his " Life " by the Reverend John McIlraith (1868).