Richardson Beach was named in honour of Captain George Taylor Richardson sometime before 1976. George was born in 1886 in Kingston and after completing his early education, he entered Queen’s University, graduating in 1909. By then he had already joined the 14th Princess of Wales Own Regiment (1907) and was well known as an excellent athlete and hockey player. With his BSc in hand, he joined the family business and assumed increasing responsibilities.
On the outbreak of the First World War, he volunteered for service overseas and was assigned to the 2nd Canadian Infantry Battalion. After training at Valcartier and on Salisbury Plain, the battalion landed in France in February 1915, and then entered the trenches around Armentieres. Shortly thereafter it advanced to Ypres where it suffered losses amounting to “virtual annihilation.” Having already experienced the most intense conflict, Richardson, now a Captain, led a courageous but ultimately futile attempt to retake Saint-Julien before emerging as the sole surviving officer of No. 2 Company, of which he then assumed command.
Richardson was known as a man who would never give an order he would not readily obey himself, and often used his own money to buy extra supplies, such as warm boots, for his troops. On the night of February 8-9, 1916, having entered No Man’s Land near Wulverghem, Belgium to supervise the withdrawal of a raiding party, Richardson was shot through the hips and died shortly thereafter. He is buried in Bailleul, France, and was posthumously awarded the “Legion d’honneur Croix de Guerre” by the President of the French Republic in March, 1916.