P5826

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Details

ID Number

P5826

Item Name

Image

Title

Major John Richardson House / Maison de Major John Richardson

Title (Fre)

Maison de Major John Richardson

Description

Black and white photograph of a two-storey house; the house has a covered porch along the front with a latticed railing; two windows with open shutters are visible under the porch and two more windows with open shutters are visible on the second storey; the house has a peaked roof with a chimney at the back; there is a short fence attached to the right side of the porch which runs out of the photograph to the right; there is a sidewalk and road in front of the house and a bare tree to the left in front; the photograph has a number of creases from being rolled up and there is a tear at the bottom

History

Major John Richardson was a noted historian of the War of 1812 and author of some of the first Canadian novels. He was born at Queenston, Upper Canada on October 4, 1796, the son of Dr. Robert Richardson and Madeleine Askin, daughter of Colonel John Askin of Detroit. In 1802 the family went from Queenston to live at Fort Amherstburg where Robert was garrison surgeon. On April 7, 1807 the Richardsons bought Lot 1 on Third Street. John was educated at the public school in Sandwich. He enlisted in the War of 1812, was captured at Moraviantown and spent a year as a prisoner in Kentucky. He transferred to the British Army and lived in both Paris and London between 1818 and 1834 where he published his first works. While in England he married Maria Caroline Wrayson, the daughter of an English civil engineer, then served with the unofficial British Legion in Spain where he attained the rank of Major. Major and Mrs. Richardson returned to Canada in 1838. Following the death of his wife, John moved to New York and sank into extreme poverty. He took ill and died on May 12, 1852 at the age of 55. He was buried by the British Consul but the whereabouts of his grave is unknown.

Place made

Canada - Ontario - Essex County

Collection Name

Museum Windsor

Subjects

Authors / Écrivains

Buildings / Immeubles

Chimneys / Cheminées

Fences / clôtures

Houses / Maisons

Military officers / Officiers militaires

Porches

Richardson, John