LL.D. in 1873. He was called to the Irish bar in 1855, and took silk in 1871. In 1871 he was appointed deputy regius professor of feudal and English law at Trinity College; he was also vice-president of the Royal Irish Academy, and an auditor and prizeman of the college historical society. He died at his residence, 27 Upper Pembroke Street, Dublin, on 29 Nov. 1883, having married the elder daughter of Major-general Henry Smith of Bathboys, co. Wicklow, who survived him with three sons and two daughters. He was buried on 3 Dec. in Mount Jerome cemetery. Sir Samuel Ferguson [q. v.], in his address to the Royal Irish Academy, described Richey as a man of the widest range of culture, an able lawyer, and a learned jurist. In politics he was a liberal.
Richey was author of:
- ‘Lectures on the History of Ireland; two series,’ 1869, 1870, 8vo; the first was a course delivered at Alexandra College, Dublin, and comprised the history of Ireland down to 1534; the second was delivered at Trinity College and went as far as the plantation of Ulster. These lectures, together with other occasional lectures, were embodied in ‘A Short History of the Irish People, down to the Plantation of Ulster’ (1887, 8vo), edited, after Richey's death, by Dr. Robert Romney Kane.
- ‘The Irish Land Laws,’ 1880, 8vo. Richey also edited vols. iii. and iv. of the Brehon laws, published by the commissioners for publishing the ancient laws and institutes of Ireland, to which he contributed masterly prefaces.
He likewise contributed frequently to the ‘Athenæum’ and ‘Saturday Review.’ He was engaged on a more detailed history of Ireland at the time of his death, but only one chapter had been written, which was incorporated in the ‘Short History’ (1887). Richey's history, though incomplete, is the most dispassionate and impartial work on the subject that has yet appeared; ‘he saw his way through the complexities of ancient and modern Celtic life with a discernment almost intuitive in its appreciation of facts’ (Edinburgh Review, April 1886, p. 437); and his work on the land-laws was quoted as an authority by Mr. Gladstone in the debates on his Land Bill of 1881.
[Preface, by Dr. Kane, to the Short History, 1887; Irish Law Times, 8 Dec. 1883; Dublin Daily Express, 30 Nov. and 4 Dec. 1883; Athenæum, 1883, ii. 738 (by Professor J.P. Mahaffy); Academy, xxxiii. 22 (by R. Dunlop); Spectator, 1883, ii. 1571; Times, 4 Dec. 1883; Dublin Univ. Cal. 1883; Cal. Graduates Trin. Coll. Dublin; Works in Brit. Mus. Libr.; information kindly supplied by Dr. J. K. Ingram, registrar of Trinity College, Dublin.]
RICHMOND, Dukes of. [See Fitzroy, Henry, 1519–1536; Stewart, Lodovic, 1570–1624; Stewart, James, 1612–1655; Stewart, Charles, 1640–1672; Lennox, Charles, first Duke (of the last creation), 1672–1723; Lennox, Charles, second Duke, 1701–1750; Lennox, Charles, third Duke, 1735–1806; Lennox, Charles, fourth Duke, 1764–1819; Lennox, Charles Gordon-, fifth Duke, 1791–1860.]
RICHMOND, Duchesses of. [See Fitzroy, Mary, d. 1557, and Stewart, Frances Teresa, d. 1702.]
RICHMOND, Earls of. [See Peter of Savoy, d. 1268, and Tudor, Edmund, 1430?–1456.]
RICHMOND and DERBY, Countess of (1441–1509). [See Beaufort, Margaret.]
RICHMOND, ALEXANDER BAILEY (fl. 1809–1834), reputed government spy, was by trade a weaver. In early life he lived in Ireland, where the distress of the people made a lasting impression on him. Between 1809 and 1812, when living at Pollockshaws in Renfrewshire, he took a leading part in an agitation for the raising of wages in the weaving trade. In January 1812, at a conference in the Glasgow council chamber between representatives of the masters and the operatives, Richmond was the chief spokesman of the latter. During these meetings, according to Richmond's account, the first overtures were made to him on behalf of government by Kirkman Finlay (1773–1842) [q. v.], a leading Glasgow capitalist. The Glasgow conference proved fruitless, and Richmond and the operatives, by the advice of their counsel, Jeffrey and Henry Cockburn, vainly applied to the law courts to put pressure on the magistrates to fix wages in accordance with an existing statute. At the end of 1812 a strike was resolved on and was conducted by Richmond with great ability; it was for several weeks general throughout the Scottish weaving trade; but in February 1813 it suddenly collapsed. In December 1812 Richmond was arrested on a charge of fomenting the strike, and sent to Paisley gaol, but liberated on bail after an eight hours' examination. He undertook to arrange a compromise, and dissuaded the strikers from violence. Nevertheless, on 9 March 1813, Richmond and other strike leaders were prosecuted for combination and conspiracy. Under the advice of Jeffrey and Cockburn, Richmond did not appear and was outlawed. He fled by way of Lancashire to Dublin, but returned to Scotland early in 1814, after being assured that he should be
