Born at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 11 January 1863, the fifth son and eighth child of Edward Richardson and his wife, *née* Hutton. His father, an iron and steel merchant and paper manufacturer, lived afterwards at Cotfield House, Gateshead-on-Tyne. W G Richardson was educated at Leys School, Cambridge, where he was one of the original pupils, at the Newcastle-upon-Tyne School of Medicine, University of Durham, and at St Bartholomew's Hospital. He acted as house surgeon at the General Infirmary, Sheffield, and at the end of his term of office there was appointed house surgeon and resident medical officer at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. At the Infirmary he became surgical registrar, was elected assistant surgeon on 8 February 1900, surgeon on 11 December 1913, resigned 1 July 1920, and was made consulting surgeon on 25 September following. On 4 June 1901 he married Sarah Arnison, daughter of George Arnison, MRCS (d 1874), of Allendale Town, Northumberland, whose younger brother was professor of surgery in the Medical School. Mrs Richardson died in 1920 without leaving any children. He died at Fisherfield, Portinscale, Keswick on 27 October 1935, in the house to which he had retired after going out of practice. Richardson was a thoughtful, original, and capable surgeon, a very expert mechanic, and a thoroughly honest and straightforward gentleman. He was a keen Volunteer, gained the Territorial Decoration, and was gazetted lieutenant-colonel, RAMC (T) on 17 February 1915. He left, after a few bequests, the residue of his fortune in trust for the National Trust for places of historic interest or natural beauty. Publications: *On the development and anatomy of the prostate gland, together with an account of the injuries and diseases and their surgical treatment*. London, 1904. This essay gained the Heath prize at Newcastle in 1904. *Abdominal injuries*, with J Rutherford Morison. Oxford war primers series. London, 1915.