Constituency : Londonderry City 1868-72
Richard took Londonderry from the Tories.
Richard was a Protestant educated at the University of Dublin and became a barrister.
Richard's maiden speech opposed the repeal of the Party Processions Act. He supported disestablishment of the Irish church.
Richard served Gladstone as Solicitor-General from 1870 and, briefly, Attorney-General for Ireland before being appointed a judge in the Irish courts in 1872 which meant resigning his seat.
Richard quickly gathered a reputation for his humour and crushing putdowns. His obituary in The Times described him as "a self-made man, who without social advantages, forced his way by his own merit to the eminent position which he occupied ....He gave at all times free and vivid utterance to his thoughts, without waiting to examine critically the terms in which he should mould them. These were often quaint and graphic, with a dash of wit and humour, which, if a little wanting in dignity... gave emphasis and force to an argument or comment".
By contrast in the legal world Richard's judgements were regarded as pedestrian and of little use as precedents.
He died unexpectedly whilst in a Kerry court-house in 1890 aged 65.
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