[2] He was called to the bar in 1824 and took orders in Church of England in 1825, but did not practise either profession as the death of his father left him with sufficient wealth to pursue his scientific interests.
He had six children from a relationship with an Irish dancer,[3] one of whom was Eleanor Louisa Moravia Henry, also known as Nelly,[4] mother of the painter Walter Sickert and the feminist Helena Swanwick.
[2] He served as editor of Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society and greatly improved their content.
[7][8] He suffered a stroke ("apoplexy") on 29 July 1855, dying on 4 August, in Reading, and was buried at Trinity College.
[9] After his death, Richard's sister Anne Sheepshanks contributed a legacy towards research to be conducted by the Cambridge Observatory and a scholarship in her brother's name.