Who is Richard and Mrs. Morland from Northanger Abbey and what is their importance?

Richard and his unnamed wife are Catherine's parents. They maintain a comfortable if modest home in Fullerton, and Richard is able to provide for his children ably—though perhaps not to Isabella's satisfaction. They display a remarkable trust in the Allens and their own daughter and the novel bears out that this trust is correctly placed. In general, however, they are minor characters and appear briefly in the opening chapter and then again in the closing of the novel. They behave as typical parents and, as the novel points out, are notable for being rather mundane as far as parents in novels go.