Dorothy Richardson

Zoë Kinsley (Liverpool Hope University College)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.06: English Writing and Culture of the Romantic Period, 1789-1837.
Vol. editors: Robert Clark (The Literary Encyclopedia), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Daniel Robinson (Widener University), Emily Rohrbach (University of Durham)

Dates

Born 3 Oct 1748
Died 30 Jun 1819
Activity 1761-1819

Places

Born in England
Active in England

Activities

Primary

Antiquarian/ Collector
Travel writer

Resources

Dorothy Richardson was a traveller and travel writer with a strong interest in history, antiquarianism, and landscape aesthetics. Born on 3 October 1748 in Thornton-in Craven, then in the West Riding of Yorkshire, Dorothy, the eldest of four children, was the daughter of Henry (1710-78) and Mary (née Dawson) (1717-1800). Her father was the Rector of Thornton and a gentleman farmer. Until her father’s death, Richardson lived with her family in the parsonage at Thornton; from 1778 she lived with her mother at nearby Gargrave. The Richardson family was well known in Yorkshire and for generations before Dorothy’s birth had been characterised by a tradition of literary and scientific accomplishment. The principal seat of the Yorkshire branch of the family was Bierley Hall near Bradford, of significant renown in the north of England as the...

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791 words

Citation: Kinsley, Zoë. "Dorothy Richardson". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 February 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5885, accessed 09 June 2026.]