Lieutenant-General Sir Richard Doherty (né O'Dogherty; 1785 – 2 September 1862[1]) was an Irish colonial administrator and a British Army officer who served as Governor of Sierra Leone.
Born Richard O'Dogherty in 1785 into an Irish Catholic family at Garculea House in Coolmoyne, near Golden, County Tipperary.
He was the eldest of four sons born to Leonard O'Dogherty and his wife, Anne, daughter of Roger Scully of Cashel.
[3] His brother, Theobald O'Dogherty, had a distinguished career with the Royal Marines, but he never received the promotions he deserved because of his Irish Catholic background.
To advance his career, Richard elected to convert to Protestantism and change the spelling of his surname—from O'Dogherty to the more Anglo Doherty.