When Richard Reading was born on 8 December 1732, in Amwell Township, Hunterdon, New Jersey, United States, his father, John Reading, was 46 and his mother, Maritje Mary Ryerson II, was 33. He married Catherine Reid about 1757, in Amwell Township, Hunterdon, New Jersey, British Colonial America. They were the parents of at least 5 sons and 2 daughters. He immigrated to Canada in 1767. In 1761, at the age of 28, his occupation is listed as town clerk in Amwell Township, Hunterdon, New Jersey, British Colonial America. He died about 1781, in Canada, at the age of 49.