Peter Richings was of English birth and rearing, although his entire professional career was spent on the American stage. His real name is said to have been Puget, and it seems certain that he was born in London, the son of Peter Puget, a captain in the Royal Navy, and his wife Hannah. The father, who became a rear admiral in 1821, had accompanied Vancouver on his trip around the world, and it was for him, then a lieutenant, that Puget Sound was named in 1791.
He studied at the Charterhouse School and at Pembroke College, Oxford. Then he began the study of law.
A desire for the stage, opposed by his parents, led him in the absence of opportunities in England to sail for New York, which he reached early in September 1821 with his wife. Upon his arrival, he immediately sought the acquaintance of Edmund Simpson, manager of the Park Theatre, and on September 25, under the name of Peter Richings, made his debut there as Henry Bertram in Guy Mannering.
Some seasons elapsed before he was able to emerge from the acting of inconspicuous parts; but so successful was he eventually, and so popular did he become with New York audiences that he remained at that theatre for the greater part of thirteen years.
He appeared frequently and prominently in musical plays, in which, according to the same judge, "as a vocalist he was rather distinguished by force than sweetness, " a close search of the records leading Odell to declare that "his vocal equipment was inadequate. "
In 1840 he went to Philadelphia, and with occasional absences filled a number of positions as actor and manager in the theatres of that city, including an engagement with W. E. Burton at the National Theatre and service as stage manager at the Walnut Street and Chestnut Street theatres. In the season of 1858-59 he was back at Burton's Theatre in New York. His last important connection with the stage was as manager of an English opera company, organized in 1866, which toured for several seasons in The Enchantress, The Bohemian Girl and other popular pieces, the principal attraction being his adopted daughter, Caroline Richings, in soprano rôles. He had been appearing with her for several seasons in this type of theatrical entertainment, and she is pronounced by J. N. Ireland to be "one of the most admired stars in the country. " Her real name was Mary Caroline Reynoldson; she died in 1882 after a distinguished career of some thirty years on the operatic stage. Upon her marriage to Pierre Bernard in 1867 Richings gave up his profession and retired to his farm in Media, Pennsylvania, where his death occurred as the result of an accident.
In a series of "Portraits" published in the New York Mirror he is described as "a useful performer and evidently strives to please. From a very miserable actor he has already become quite a respectable one. We should be sorry to miss his good-humored, good-looking face, and his unique manner of doing some things".
He married in 1818.
