Ralph Richardson was born on November 22, 1845, in Edinburgh, Scotland.

He was a Scottish lawyer and noted amateur geologist and historian. He was educated at Edinburgh Academy (1857-1861) and spent at least a year at the Kreuzschule in Dresden. He studied law at the University of Edinburgh and the Collège de France in Paris. In 1875, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh for his contributions to geology. In 1882, he co-founded the Edinburgh Geological Society and served as its first Vice President. Later in life, he served as a Writer to the Signe and HM Commissary Clerk of Edinburgh. He contributed numerous articles to various geological journals.

In 1879, he married Melville Elizabeth Fleming (1858-). He died on June 26, 1933, in Edinburgh, Scotland.