Robert Richardson (travel writer)
Scottish physician and travel writer
Dr Robert Richardson FRSE (1779–5 November 1847) was an early 19th-century Scottish physician remembered as a travel writer.
Life
He was born in Stirlingshire in 1779. He was educated at Stirling High School then studied medicine at the University of Glasgow. He gained his doctorate (MD) from the University of Edinburgh in 1807. After spending some years as a general practitioner in Dumfriesshire he became travelling companion and personal physician to Charles John Gardiner, 1st Earl of Blessington (Viscount Mountjoy). In 1816 they were further joined by Somerset Lowry-Corry, 2nd Earl Belmore. The three then spent two years travelling Europe, Egypt and Palestine.
Whilst in Albania they met Ali Pasha at Janina. Later in Palestine, Richardson claimed to be the first Christian visitor to Solomon's mosque in Gaza. In Tiberias they met Lady Hester Lucy Stanhope.
The public source identifies “Robert Richardson (travel writer)” as scottish physician and travel writer. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Robert, Richardson and travel.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q18672239. VIAF identifies the subject as 233341562. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1779, 1847, 1807 and 1816.
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This entry incorporates text from “Robert Richardson (travel writer)” 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.