Richardson, David Lester

(1801-1865)

   Little is known of his background. He was an officer in the Bengal army and served on the staff of the governor-general, Lord William Bentinck, and in the education department at Calcutta. In 1827 he returned to England and founded the London Weekly Review, which afterwards became Colburn's Court Journal. In 1829 he returned to Calcutta and from 1830 to 1837 acted as editor of the Bengal Annual, then edited the Calcutta Monthly Journal and The Calcutta Literary Gazette (1834 to 1849). From 1836 he was professor of English literature of the Hindu College at Calcutta and from 1839, principal of the college. He returned to England in 1861 and became proprietor and editor of The Court Circular and editor of Allen's Indian Mail. He died at Clapham, London. Some of his publications: Miscellaneous Poems, 1822. Sonnets and Other Poems, 1825. Selections from the British Poets, 1840. Literary Chit-chat, with Miscellaneous Poems, 1848. Some of his poems: "Nature," "Sonnet on Autumn," "Sonnet Written at Netley Abbey," "Sonnet, Sunrise," "Sonnets from a British Indian Exile to his Distant Children," "Sounds at Sea," "The Soldier's Dream."

   Sources: Dictionary of National Biography. Electronic Edition 1.1. Oxford University Press, 1997. Publications by David Lester Richardson. Forget Me Not: A Hypertextual Archive (http://www.orgs.muohio.edu/anthologies/FMN/Authors_GenD.htm\#Richardson).