By the time of Richard's birth, his grandfather Charles Prestwich Scott had already been editor of The Manchester Guardian for 43 years.
Just three years later, and only months after inheriting half of the newspaper on Charles's death, tragedy struck when Edward was drowned while boating with Richard on Windermere.
Richard had been educated at Gresham's School, and, with the financial support of Edward's brother John Russell Scott, he was able to join Christ's College, Cambridge, where he matriculated later that same year, 1932.
Edward's shares in the newspaper had gone to John who, in 1936 arranged for them to be transferred into a trust, to avoid inheritance taxes.
Richard famously for the first time used his position as chairman of the trust to oppose his cousin Laurence Scott's plan to merge The Guardian, of which he, Laurence, was then chairman, with the Times in 1966, for which resistance Richard was considered the saviour of its independence.