The artist was born on 18 September, 1863, in Birmingham (GRO), and his address remained there in 1883 and 1887. He also worked from Lulworth, Dorset (1885), Newlyn (1892), London (1897), Wareham, Dorset (1902) and Bournemouth (1917).

In the 1890 exhibition at Dowdeswells, that indicates his presence in Newlyn sometime before, Richards showed 6 sketches and watercolours, including Sketch for Cornish Courtyard, Something for Father and The Way to the Laundry-Newlyn.

In an article for The Studio (1895) - 'Newlyn as a Sketching Ground' -  he wrote that he had been in and around Newlyn for five years and knew it under 'all its various changes and aspects, according to time of year and weather...'  Frank Richards died in Bournemouth on 12 October, 1920 (GRO).

Recent communication (2013): I work at the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum in Bournemouth and we hold a number of paintings by Frank Richards. I have just discovered a letter in our archives that gives the birth/death dates of the artist Frank Richards to be 18.9.1863 to 12.10.1935. The letter was written by his daughter to the museum in 1959.

This would seem to dispute that we have the correct date of death in our files (despite having a death certificate as above). Was there a duplicate artist named Frank Richards?