Peter Richards (Royal Navy officer)

Admiral Sir Peter Richards KCB (1787 – 16 March 1869) was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Third Sea Lord.

Sir Peter Richards
Signing of the Treaty of Nanking (1842). Richards is seated in the front row (second from right) between Maj. George Malcolm and Lt. Col. Francis Spencer Hawkins.
Born	1787
Died	16 March 1869
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	Royal Navy
Years of service	1798–1865
Rank	Admiral
Commands held	HMS Asia HMS Volage HMS Cornwallis HMS Hibernia HMS Royal Sovereign HMS Cumberland HMS Boscawen
Battles/wars	First Opium War Crimean War
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath

Naval career

Grave of Sir Peter Richards at St Andrew's Church, Ham

Richards joined the Royal Navy in 1798.[1] Promoted to Captain in 1828, Richards was given command of HMS Asia and HMS Volage before commanding HMS Cornwallis in the First Opium War.[1] He later commanded HMS Hibernia, HMS Royal Sovereign, HMS Cumberland and HMS Boscawen.[1]

As a rear-admiral he was appointed Third Sea Lord in 1854 and served in that role during the Crimean War.[1] He was promoted vice-admiral on the Reserved List in April, 1862.[2]

St. Peter's Memorial Mission Chapel at Saltash Passage near St Budeaux in Cornwall was built in his memory but damaged in World War II and then demolished in 1956.[3][4]

He is buried at St Andrew's Church, Ham, Surrey.

See also

• O'Byrne, William Richard (1849). "Richards, Peter" . A Naval Biographical Dictionary . John Murray – via Wikisource.

References

1. William Loney RN
2. "No. 22627". The London Gazette. 20 May 1862. p. 2615.
3. The Phillimore Papers National Archives
4. Moseley, Brian (June 2011). "Mission Chapel of Saint Peter". The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History. Plymouth Data. Archived from the original on 4 March 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2015.