Born at Glasgow, 15 December 1902, the second child and second son of Henry Edward Richardson, glass manufacturer, and Emily Elizabeth Smith, his wife. He was educated at the Glasgow High School, 1908-14. His father retired from business in 1914, and coming south sent his son to the Dudley Grammar S

Born at Lublin in Poland, he came to England in 1920 and entered the Middlesex Hospital Medical School. After qualifying he took up general practice on his own at the Vale, Highbury NW but, deciding to specialise in ophthalmology, he was admitted a Fellow in 1932 and then worked as a clinical assist