142
RIDDELLS OF NEWCASTLE AND GATESHEAD.
Eleanor Ridell13 (2), fourth daughter of Thomas12 (7), born 1610.
Jeanie Ridell¹8 (1), fifth daughter of Thomas¹2 (7), was the wife of
John Forcer, Esq., of Harbor House, Durham.
14
FOURTEENTH GENERATION.
William Ridell (8), eldest son of William¹8 (7), and his wife Kath-
erine Widdrington, was of Gateshead. He married first Isabella, and
by her had one daughter, of whom hereafter; his second wife was Mar-
garet by whom he had a son and daughter. He died in 1698.
"
Thomas Riddell¹ (9), eldest son of Thomas¹³ (8), succeeded his father,
and was styled "of Fenham, in the county of Northumberland," which
estate he sold in the year 1695, under an act of Parliament, to John Ord,
Esq., of Newcastle. This property once belonged to the Knights of Jeru-
salem, called "Knight Hospitallers of St. John." The estate was granted
them by Parliament in 1324. It was annexed to the crown at the Dissolu-
tion, but afterwards came by purchase to the Riddell family; they held it
for only a few generations, however, and sold it to the Ords as above
stated. The coal mines were reserved at the time of the first sale, but
were afterwards sold to the Ords, who held the hall and lands until about
thirty years ago, when the mansion and about ninety acres of land were
sold to Colonel Bell, and he and his widow held it for fifteen years; it
was then sold to William Pears, who held it till about 1873, when it came
by purchase to William-Cochran Carr, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, the present
owner. The hall and about two hundred acres of land are all that has
been sold from the original estate by Mrs. Blackett Ord, who now owns
large tracts of valuable land in Fenham and Benwell [vide Gazetteer].
For the past twenty years the hall and grounds have been neglected and
allowed to go to ruin, till by the exertions of the present proprietor it has
been thoroughly renovated and put in fine condition (see plate view of
Fenham Hall in this book). The grounds are beautiful, and the trees very
large, indeed the largest in the neighborhood, some of them being
thirty-six inches in diameter at five feet from the ground. The rhodo-
dendrons on the terrace are of unusual size; they have come down to the
ground again, and have taken root, until from one original plant a tree
now covers about fifty feet in area. Mr. Riddell was the first of this
family whose name is found spelled with the double letters in full. He
married Mary, eldest daughter of Edward Grey, Esq., of Bichfield, North-
umberland, and had (with other daughters who all died unmarried) eight
sons and one daughter, of whom hereafter. Mr. Riddell was baptized in
1632, and died in 1704.
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Ralph Riddell (1), second son of Thomas¹3 (8), was born in 1636.
No further mention of this child.
Barbara Riddell (2), eldest daughter of Thomas¹³ (8), was born in
1630.
Anne Riddell¹ (3), second daughter of Thomas¹³ (8), born in 1632,
was married to Francis, second son of Marmaduke Tunstal, Esq., of Wyc-
liffe, in the County of York.
Elizabeth Riddell (2), third daughter of Thomas¹8 (8), born in 1634;
was married to Ralph Wilson, Esq., of Field House, near Gateshead, in
the County of Durham.
Margery Riddell (1), fourth daughter of Thomas¹8 (8), born in 1639;
was living in 1661, a nun at Pointoise, in France.
