Richard was born at Plymouth, Devonshire, England. On 18 September 1852 he first appears on the roster of the Utah Territorial Militia in Salt Lake City. Here he was re-baptized on 3 October 1852 by Alfred Cordon. In the 1852 Bishop's Report he was living in the Salt Lake City 10th Ward; in 1855 he paid tithing in the Salt Lake 15th Ward and he was still there at the time of the 1856 Territorial census. In 1859 he was in Perry, Pike County, Illinois and wrote two letters to a Brother Coward expressing his intention of returning to Utah, but it is not known if he again crossed the plains. Further research is needed: 1) to discover when he first traveled to Utah and with which pioneer company, 2) if he indeed again crossed the plains.