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Robert Richardson-Gardner

British politician (1827-1898)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionNov 17, 2025
Entity authorityQ7349272 ↗
Source-derived summary

Robert Richardson-Gardner (15 June 1827 – 4 January 1898) was a British barrister, militia officer and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1874 to 1890. He was also a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.

Biography

Richardson-Gardner was born in Swansea, Glamorgan, the son of John and Elizabeth Richardson, and was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in 1853, although he did not practice as a barrister. His father and several of his brothers were shipowners and dock proprietors in Swansea, although the family originated in Northumberland.

He married Maria Louisa Gardner in 1854, only daughter and heiress of Henry Gardner, a wealthy brewer who, with his brothers, had owned the Cannon Brewery in St John Street, Clerkenwell, London. The couple adopted the surname Richardson-Gardner in 1865 by royal licence. In 1859 he was appointed Captain-Commandant of the newly formed 8th Hampshire Rifle Volunteers and in 1865 he was appointed Honorary Colonel of the 6th Tower Hamlets Rifle Volunteer Corps, a position he held until around 1872. Also in 1865 he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Tower Hamlets.

At the 1868 general election, Richardson-Gardner stood unsuccessfully for Windsor. However he was elected Member of Parliament for the seat at the 1874 general election.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Robert Richardson-Gardner” as british politician (1827-1898). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Robert, Richardson-Gardner and British.

Editorial reviewStrongest as a route into the people, institutions and dated events that shaped the subject’s public record. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1827, 1898, 1874, 1890—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1827-06-15. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Robert, Richardson-Gardner and British providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Robert Richardson-Gardner”, the useful work is to connect “british politician (1827-1898)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Nov 17, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q7349272. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1827, 1898, 1874 and 1890.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Robert Richardson-Gardner” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.