The celebrated actor was born in Cheltenham, where his father was a teacher, but came of Northumberland puritan stock, as Richardson himself put it. His grandparents lived in Ashfield, Elswick Road, Newcastle and his parents at The Gables, Elswick Road, both near the family leatherworks. His father was quite a talented painter and exhibited at the Laing Art Gallery.
It may be that Richardson did not wish to stress the leather connection, but he did say that whenever he was performing on Tyneside, his relatives would drive in from the country and visit his dressing-room after the show. There they would sit and drink, discussing problems related to pig farming. They never mentioned Ralph's performance, though he imagined them on the way back to the hills agreeing that Ralph looked better without make-up.