Absalom Richins was born February 12, 1832, in Sheepscombe, Painswick, Gloucestershire, England. He was the third son of William Richins and Charlotte Ann Guy. He had four brothers and two sisters. All except Emma, who died at age 3, lived to raise a family.

Absalom worked on his parent’s farm in Sheepscombe until he was a young man. He helped with the sheep and cattle.

Missionaries [from] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints visited Sheepscombe and the William Richins family accepted the gospel with open hearts.William and Charlotte Ann, along with their daughter, Miriam Ann, her son, Arthur, and a grandson, Lorenzo Richins, left for Utah, April 30, 1866, sailing on the ship John Bright. They arrived in Salt Lake City, Utah with Captain Samuel D. White’s mule train, September 5, 1866.

William Richins and his wife Charlotte Ann made their home in Pleasant Grove, Utah. Their daughter, Miriam, her son, Arthur, and William’s grandson, Lorenzo, settled in Henefer, Utah

Before Absalom's parents left England to come to America, Absalom and his brothers went to Tredegar, South Wales, to work in the coal mines. While working there Absalom met a young woman by the name of Eliza James. She became his first wife in 1850. There were no children, as she died after they were married only a short time.

A few years later he met Ann Robinson. She was born September 23, 1834, in Tredegar, South Wales, the daughter of John Robinson and Elizabeth Miles. Her father was a molder (maker of molds). They were a poor family. She did not have stockings to wear in the winter time and her legs got so cold they bled. The Robinson family lived in an old rock house which had been occupied by several generations of their family.

Ann’s sister, Elizabeth, and her family lived in the home after Ann left Tredegar. Correspondence between Elizabeth and her family and Ann’s granddaughter, Eva Richins, kept some family ties for a number of years.