The Richards family of Horndean in Hampshire began its connection with America in the early 19th century when John Richards opened a business in Boston, Massachusetts. Although his son, Francis Richards, established a manufacturing business in Gardiner, Maine, the family retained strong European ties. The constant coming and going across the Atlantic gives the collection a very cosmopolitan outlook enhanced by the marriage in 1878 of Francis Gardiner Richards to Anne Ashburner whose family also had English and American connections.

For notes on the Richards family see ‘Stepping westward’ by Laura E Richard. For other related collections see ‘The yellow house papers’ by Danny D Smith.