James Nicholson Richardson (7 February 1846 – 11 October 1921) was an Irish Liberal politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

from 1880 to 1885. Richardson was the son of

John Grubb Richardson John Grubb Richardson (13 November 1813 – 1891) was an Irish linen merchant, industrialist and philanthropist who founded the model village of Bessbrook near Newry in 1845, in what is now Northern Ireland. Five years later he founded a maj ...

Lisburn Lisburn ( ; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with t ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

and

Bessbrook Bessbrook ( Irish: ''An Sruthán'') is a village in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It lies about three miles (5 km) northwest of Newry and near the Newry bypass on the main A1 Belfast-Dublin road and Belfast-Dublin railway line. Today t ...

County Armagh County Armagh ( ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It is located in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and adjoins the southern shore of Lough Neagh. It borders t ...

, and his first wife Helena Grubb, daughter of Richard Grubb of Cahir Abbey,

County Tipperary County Tipperary () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary (tow ...

. He was educated at home until 1857 and then at Grove House Academy, a Quaker school in Tottenham.Debretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1881
/ref>Emily Boyle, 'Richardson, James Nicholson (1846–1921)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 200
accessed 6 Dec 2010
/ref> His mother died in 1849 during childbirth and his father remarried Jane Marion Wakefield; through the Wakefield family the Richardsons inherited their estate at Moyallon House,

Gilford, County Down Gilford is a village in County Down, Northern Ireland. The village sits on the River Bann between the towns of Banbridge, Tandragee and Portadown. It covers the townlands of Loughans, Ballymacanallen and Drumaran. It had a population of 1,93 ...

. At the 1880 general election Richardson was elected member of parliament for

Armagh Armagh ( ; , , " Macha's height") is a city and the county town of County Armagh, in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Primates of All ...

and held the seat until 1885. He was a supporter of the interests of the tenant farmers of Ireland and a member of the

Religious Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

. Richardson died at the age of 75 and is buried in the grounds of Bessbrook Friends' Meeting House, close to his home. Richardson married Sophia Malcolmson, daughter of William Malcolmson of Portlaw in 1867. The couple honeymooned in

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

and made their home at Mount Caulfield House, Bessbrook. Richardson would go on to sell 5,000 acres of his estate under the Wyndham Acts. He died at Malvern, England.

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* * 1846 births 1921 deaths Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for County Armagh constituencies (1801–1922) UK MPs 1880–1885 Irish Quakers People from County Armagh Irish Liberal Party MPs {{Ireland-UK-MP-stub