Richardson was born at Queenston, Ontario on the Niagara River in 1796. His mother Madelaine was the daughter of the fur traderJohn Askin and an Ottawa woman. His father, Dr. Robert Richardson, was a surgeon with the Queen's Rangers. As a young boy, Richardson lived for a time with his grandparents in Detroit and later with his parents at Fort Malden, Amherstburg. His time at Fort Malden would later impact his literature and his life. At age 16, Richardson enlisted in the British 41st Regiment of Foot. During his service with this regiment. he met Chief Tecumseh and Major General Isaac Brock, whom he later wrote about in his novel The Canadian Brothers. While stationed at Fort Malden during the War of 1812, Richardson witnessed the execution of an American prisoner by Tecumseh's forces at the River Raisin, a traumatic experience which haunted him for the rest of his life. During the War of 1812, Richardson was imprisoned for a year in the United States after his capture during the battle of Moraviantown. Richardson was commissioned into the 8th Foot in 1813, exchanged into the 2nd Foot in 1816 and transferred to the 92nd Foot in 1818. His later military service took him to England and, for two years, to the West Indies. While in the West Indies, Richardson was appalled by the treatment of slaves there. Richardson stated that his mixed racial background made him uneasy with his fellow officers in the West Indies. This may have contributed to his evenhanded treatment of First Nations people in his novels. Richardson's most savage characters, Wacousta in the novelWacousta and Desborough in The Canadian Brothers, are in fact white men who have turned "savage". Richardson began his fiction-writing career with novels about the British and French societies of his time. In his third and most successful novel, Wacousta, he turned to the North American frontier for his setting and history. He followed the same practice in the sequel, The Canadian Brothers. In 1838, Richardson returned to Canada from England, promoted to the rank of major. He tried to earn his livelihood by writing fiction and by setting up a series of weekly newspapers. He was appointed superintendent of the police on the Welland Canal in 1845, but was fired the next year. In 1849 Richardson moved to New York City, where he continued to write fiction. However, his attempts to build a literary career in the US failed. John Richardson died in New York City in 1852. He was buried in the paupers' cemetery in New York; his grave site is unknown.
