| James Burchell Richardson | |
| Order: | 41st |
| Office: | Governor of South Carolina |
| Term Start: | December 8, 1802 |
| Term End: | December 7, 1804 |
| Lieutenant: | Ezekiel Pickens |
| Predecessor: | John Drayton |
| Successor: | Paul Hamilton |
| Office2: | Member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from Clarendon District |
| Term2: | November 25, 1816 - November 23, 1818 |
| Term3: | November 26, 1804 - November 24, 1806 |
| Term4: | November 26, 1792 - December 8, 1802 |
| Office5: | President pro tempore of the South Carolina Senate |
| Term5: | September 15, 1813 - September 24, 1813 |
| Predecessor5: | Samuel Warren |
| Successor5: | Savage Smith |
| Office6: | Member of the South Carolina Senate from Clarendon District |
| Term6: | November 26, 1810 - December 8, 1813 |
| Office7: | Member of the South Carolina Senate from Claremont and Clarendon District |
| Term7: | November 24, 1806 - November 26, 1810 |
| Birth Date: | 28 October 1770 |
| Birth Place: | Clarendon County, South Carolina |
| Death Place: | Clarendon County, South Carolina, US |
| Party: | Democratic-Republican |
James Burchell Richardson (October 28, 1770April 28, 1836) was the Governor of South Carolina from 1802 to 1804.
Born in Clarendon County to Brigadier General Richard Richardson (general), a famed Revolutionary War leader,[1] and Dorcas Richardson, an American heroine,[2] he received his education at the local schools in Clarendon County. He afterwards became a planter at the Richardsons' Big Home Plantation.
In 1792, Richardson was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives and served for ten years. The General Assembly chose him to be Governor of South Carolina in 1802 for a two-year term. During his time as governor, the legislature repealed laws against the traffic of slaves, but prohibited the importation of slaves under the age of fifteen from other states.
Upon leaving the governorship in 1804, Richardson returned as a member of the state House of Representatives. He won election to the South Carolina Senate in 1806 and served until 1814. From 1816 to 1818, Richardson was a member of the state House of Representatives for a third and final time. He spent the rest of his life on his plantation where he died on April 28, 1836, and was interred at the Richardson Cemetery.