[1] Being from a family of booksellers, William Richman Piddington was initially apprenticed to a bookshop in Bond Street, London[citation needed].

Philosophically a radical, he became politically active during the 1840s and 1850s and opposed the conservative constitution proposed by William Wentworth.

[7] Piddington was the Colonial Treasurer in the first ministry of Henry Parkes in May 1872 but resigned in December due to ill health.

[4] He supported the extension of the rural railway network and was a strong opponent of state aid for religious schools.

He was described by David Buchanan as "a little, squat, burly piece of pompous vulgarity" who "abandoned all his political opinions and turned Tory",[9] however MacDonald notes "he supported such liberal measures as Parkes's 1866 Education Act, opposed state aid for public worship as 'contrary to the spirit of Christianity' and contributed to the rebuilding of St Mary's Cathedral.