The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Richardson, Major-General John Soame
Richardson, Major-General John Soame, C.B., Commander of the Forces, New South Wales, was born in 1836, and entered the army in 1854. In the next year he served with the 72nd Highlanders in the Crimean war, and was present at the siege and fall of Sebastopol for which he received a medal with clasp, and the Turkish war medal. In the New Zealand war of 1860-61 he served with the 1st battalion of the 12th Regiment of Foot in the Taranaki district, and in the Waikato campaign in 1863 and 1864. General Richardson, who holds the New Zealand war medal, became captain in 1863, and, retiring from the Imperial service, was in 1865 appointed to the command of the military forces of New South Wales, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, becoming colonel in 1876 and major-general in 1885, when he commanded the New South Wales contingent despatched to co-operate with the British forces in the Soudan campaign, being created C.B., mentioned in despatches, and receiving the Egyptian medal with clasp and the Khedive's star in recognition of his services.