RICHARDS
,
THOMAS
(
1800
-
1877
),
Australian journalist
;
b. at
Dolgelley
(christened there
17 Aug. 1800
), son of
Thomas
Richards
,
lawyer
,
Dolgelley
, and
Elizabeth
his wife. He lost his father at the age of 8.
Thomas
entered
Christ's Hospital
in
1809
, later following a medical course, and was received as
Licentiate
of the
Society of Apothecaries
in
1823
. His early literary efforts in
London
appeared in the
Monthly Magazine
, and in other journals. During these days he associated with
Hazlitt
and other writers, and the influence of
Coleridge
remained strong as can be seen from some of his Australian essays. He was married, his wife
published poetry
in
Australia
under her own name,
Hannah Elsemere
Richards
.
Richards
arrived in
Hobart
as a
ship's surgeon
, and for a little while
practised medicine
in
New Norfolk
,
Tasmania
, but soon returned to
Hobart
as
editor
of the
Hobart Town Magazine
(
1833-4
), and later he edited
The Tasmanian
(
1834
) and contributed to other journals. He also
took a share in local government
. In
1847
he revisited
Britain
, but returned to
Hobart
to serve for the remainder of his life on the staff of
The Mercury
.
Richards
published no books but
contributed extensively to newspapers and periodicals
by writing short stories (many of his stories have a
Welsh
background), essays on various subjects, reviews and poems. He had been called ‘
The Father of the Tasmanian Press
.’ He d. in
1877
.
Bibliography:
-
E. Morris Miller
,
Pressmen and Governors Australian editors
and writers in early Tasmania a contribution to the history
of the Australian press and literature with notes
biographical and bibliographical
, 1952
;
-
articles by
E. Morris Miller
in
Across the Years The lure of early
Australian books
, Melbourne, 1948
(Melbourne, 1948) and in
Education Record
, Tasmania
(Tasmania), Oct. 1948;
-
further information by correspondence from
Mr. E. M. Miller
.
Author:
David Myrddin Lloyd, M.A., (1909-81), Aberystwyth / Scotland
