Biography

Richard Buckley Litchfield was born on 6 January 1832 in Yarpole, Herefordshire, the only son of Captain Richard Litchfield. He was educated at Cheltenham College and Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating in 1853. He was admitted to the Inner Temple in 1854, and called to the Bar in 1863, and was engaged in the office of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners from 1859 to 1892. In addition to being a founder of the Working Men's College, London, he was Vice-Principal of the College from 1872 to 1875, Bursar from its foundation to 1901, and a member of its Council from its opening to his death. For a time, from its first appearance in 1859, Litchfield was editor of the 'Working Men's College Magazine' and he taught mathematics and music to the College students until his retirement from teaching in 1880. Litchfield married Henrietta Emma ('Etty') Darwin in 1871, but there were no children from the marriage. He wrote a substantial biography of the inventor of photography, Thomas Wedgwood, which was published in the year of his death. He died on 11 January 1903 in Cannes, France.

Found in 2 Collections and/or Records: