William A. Richardson (1795-1856) was an English-born Mexican citizen who first claimed and developed the site of Sausalito, California as a private rancho after 1838. Richardson was born in London, and he jumped ship in California in 1822 while serving on a whaling ship
Biography[]
Richardson in 1822
William A. Richardson was born in London, England in 1795, and he served as a mariner aboard British whaling ships as an adult, arriving in San Francisco Bay in 1822. Richardson had developed a fluency in Spanish during his travels, and he decided to jump ship and settle in Mexican California after having decided that he no longer wished to serve a harsh and drunken captain. By 1825, he had become a Mexican citizen, converted to Catholicism, and married Maria Antonia Martinez, the daughter of Mexican Army officer Ygnacio Martinez. Colonel Martinez was supportive of Richardson's stay in California, and Richardson and Maria Martinez would produce the first child in California of mixed American parentage. In 1838, Richardson established a watering station on the shores of Sausalito, and he was later granted the modern-day town as a rancho. Richardson would later suffer from financial problems, and he died in bankruptcy in 1856.