David Lester Richardson

David Lester Richardson (1801 – 17 November 1865) was an officer of the East India Company, who throughout his life followed literary pursuits as a poet and periodical writer, and as editor and proprietor of literary journals. A skilled linguist, he was in later life an educator, serving as professor of English at Hindu College, where he inspired the Bengali poet Michael Madhusudan Dutta.

Early life

David Lester Richardson was born in London and baptised at St. Marylebone on 15 February 1801, son of Sarah Lester and Lt Col David Thomas Richardson (1780–1808) of the Bengal Army. He appears to have been born out of wedlock; David Thomas Richardson married Violet Oliver (c1780–1808) in August 1801. He, Violet and their three surviving children died when their ship, the Lord Nelson was lost in a storm around 21 or 22 November 1808 en route from Madras to England.

Career

Richardson entered into the service of the East India Company in 1819, and from that time began to submit poems to James Silk Buckingham's Calcutta Journal under initials which were to become well known in British India circles; D.L.R. His work included English language translations of Indian poems. He appears to have been wealthy; an uncle, Colonel Sherwood, is reported to have commented in connection with Richardson's aspiration to visit England, "You are the richest ensign in India. If you go home, you will return a beggar."

In 1822, he published a slim volume of poems under his full name - a work he was later ashamed of, presumably for its callow elements. He was granted medical leave to visit England in 1824; this first return trip to the mother-country lasted until 1829. In London he pursued his literary muse, publishing Sonnets and Other Poems in 1825, apparently to warm reviews. It was reprinted a number of times and a third edition was published in 1827 within the Jones Diamond Edition series on British Poets; Richardson was the only living poet to have his work included in the series.