Theodore Richards was a convict transported

Penal transportation

Transportation or penal transportation is the deporting of convicted criminals to a penal colony. Examples include transportation by France to Devil's Island and by the UK to its colonies in the Americas, from the 1610s through the American Revolution in the 1770s, and then to Australia between...

 to Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

, who later became one of the colony

Penal colony

A penal colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general populace by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory...

's ex-convict school teachers

Ex-convict school teachers in Western Australia

Following Western Australia's convict era, 37 ex-convicts were appointed school teachers in the colony. The appointment of such a large number of ex-convicts to what was considered a respectable government position was highly unusual for a penal colony, as the social stigma of conviction usually...

.

Born in 1818, Richards had a wife and one child and was working as a clerk and commercial traveller in 1858, when he was convicted of embezzlement

Embezzlement

Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted....

 and sentenced to ten years' penal servitude. He was transported to Western Australia on board the Palmerston, arriving in February 1861. After receiving his ticket of leave, he taught at the Katrine school from 1864 until 1875, then the Wicklow Hills school until 1885. During his time at Katrine he employed another convict, Frederick Carter, as his servant and assistant teacher.