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Member of Parliament for Augher, Ireland From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William Richardson (c.1690–1755) was the Member of Parliament for Augher, Ireland, from 1737 to 1755.[1] His elder brother Archibald had been member for Augher in 1692.[2]
He was the son of William Richardson of Tullyreavey, near Cookstown, and brother of the Rev. John Richardson. He was an agent for the Irish Society of London, and made a fortune.[1] He bought the Merchant Taylors Company estate near Coleraine, of which he is said to have been the manager, in 1729.[2]
The estate had the English name of Somerset, and became the seat of the Richardson family.[3] Richardson married Mary Eyles, fourth daughter of Sir Francis Eyles, 1st Baronet.[4] The original Somerset House built in 1732 burned down in 1802.[5]
On Richardson's death in 1755, the Somerset estate passed to his nephew the Rev. John Richardson, son of his brother John.[1] It was inherited by the Rev. John's son John, member of the Irish parliament for Newtown Limavady. He married, but left no heir on his death in 1800.[6]
John Nash was active in co. Tyrone in the period 1800 to 1820.[7] He left a drawing for Somerset House, Coleraine, made for a Mr Richardson. It is assumed this is for work not carried out.[8] In the 19th century Somerset House was a villa in the style of Sir Richard Morrison.[3]
In the memoirs of Frederick Young by his daughter, Somerset appears as "a fine large property ... including a beautiful salmon leap on the River Bann", owned by "Tom Richardson" (the Rev. Thomas Rumbold Richardson), a cleric and brother-in-law via a cousin marriage to Young.[9] The estate passed to the Torrens family, with the marriage of Barbara Maria Richardson, heiress with her sister Maria Frederica to the Rev. Richardson, to the Rev. Thomas Henry Torrens.[10] Ultimately, during the period of the Irish Land Acts, the estate was offered for purchase to its tenants, and much of it was sold.[11]
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