He was born at Woodsome, Almondbury, Yorkshire, England, and baptized October 1, 1610, was the eldest son of Sir Richard Saltonstall and Grace, daughter of Robert Kaye. His father, the nephew of Sir Richard, Lord Mayor of London, was an original patentee and Assistant of the Massachusetts Bay Company.
Richard, Jr. , was admitted fellow commoner at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, in 1627. In England he studied law.
In 1630 he accompanied his father to Massachusetts Bay, where they established the settlement of Watertown. After being admitted freeman, May 18, 1631, young Saltonstall returned to England.
Later he settled in Ipswich. Richard was prominent in local affairs as an important property holder, proprietor of the only gristmill in town, and deputy, 1635-37. After the removal of John Winthrop, Jr. , Saltonstall's name appeared first on all town petitions and the townspeople referred to him as the "Worshipful Mr. Saltonstall. " His residence in Ipswich was interrupted by three sojourns in England (1649-63; 1672 - 80; and 1686-94), during which he was appointed in 1650, a commissioner of a High Court of Justice to repress the enemies of the Commonwealth, and, in 1654, a trustee for settling sequestrated estates in Scotland. Saltonstall undertook these journeys to England for the sake of his wife's health and, also, to oversee the family property which, contrary to the usual practice of the New England colonists, was retained.
In colony affairs he occupied important offices, serving as an Assistant, 1637-49, 1664, and 1680-82. As a magistrate he kept court at Ipswich, Newbury, and Piscataqua.
In military affairs he served as a sergeant-major in Colonel Endicott's regiment, and he was an alternate commissioner of the New England Confederacy in 1644 and substitute agent of the Colony to England in 1660.
He died at Hulme, Lancaster, England, survived by four children.
He was one of that liberal Ipswich group, which included Bellingham, Simon Bradstreet, and Nathaniel Ward, whose members were able, by virtue of their piety and devotion, to defy successfully arbitrary methods in government. Saltonstall in his manuscript condemned the proposed Life Council as sinful and contrary to the charter, which condemnation caused trouble for the author. He remonstrated with Governor Winthrop with respect to his policy of extending aid to Charles de La Tour in his quarrel with his rival D'Aulnay, Acadian official, and hinted at the neutrality of Ipswich in the event of hostilities.
Saltonstall petitioned the Confederacy, in 1645, against unneutral aid to LaTour as impolitic and dishonorable. His advanced views are also indicated by his formal protest, in 1645, against the slave trade and by his opposition to the course taken by the authorities against Dr. Robert Child, Samuel Maverick, and others who had petitioned for exemption from the prevailing ecclesiastical restrictions.
On July 4, 1633, he married Muriel, daughter of Brampton Gurdon of Suffolk. With their first child, the Saltonstalls returned to New England in 1635 and settled in Ipswich.
