RIDDELLS OF GRANTON, SCOTLAND.
91
Ad Veritatem Rerum Revocandam Prodigus Laboris
Atque Etiam Felix Fuit, Eandemque Scriptis
Illustravit Auctor Omnium Conscensu Gravis-
simus; Hoc In Agro, Qui Proavorum Ipsius
Olim Fuit, Sepultus Est.
Natus IV Die Octobris MDCCLXXXV. Decessit VIII° Die Feb-
ruarii MDCCLXII. Vixit Annos LXXVI.
"John Riddell, Esquire, advocate; a man imbued with the literature of
every age, who in antiquities, and especially that branch of them which
relates to the origin of families, by recalling it to the truth of fact, was
prodigal of labor, and, moreover, felicitous. This pursuit he illustrated
by his writings, being an author of the greatest weight, as all admit.
In this land, once the property of his ancestors, he was buried. Born,
4th October, 1785; died 8th February, 1862. He lived 76 years.”*
Rev. Henry Riddell (2), second son of Henry¹ (1) of Little Govan,
now a part of the city of Glasgow, was born May 23, 1789, at Glasgow;
married in 1818 Agnes Gilchrist, daughter of Archibald Gilchrist, Esq.,
by whom he had one son. His wife died at Bexhill, England, and he mar
ried secondly, in 1831, Elizabeth, daughter of John Horne, Esq., of
Storkoke, Caithnesshire, and by her had issue four children, of whom
(with the first son) hereafter. Mr. Riddell was educated at the grammar
school, Glasgow, till the age of 13, and afterwards at Edinburgh, where
the family removed after the death of his father in 1801. He attended
the University of Edinburgh, and passed as a "Writer to His Majesty's
Signet." For a short time he practised his profession at Edinburgh, but
removed to London about 1822, and became solicitor there. His wife's
health was delicate, and she could not live in London, so he gave up busi-
ness and went to the south of England, where Mrs. Riddell died. He
then returned to Scotland, determined to enter the church, and passed
through the Divinity terms at St. Mary's College, St. Andrews. His first
settlement was at Longformacus, a small parish in Berwickshire, in 1830.
In 1843 he was appointed assistant and successor to Rev. George Cun-
ningham, minister of Dunse, and in 1847 succeeded him in that charge,
where he remained till his death, which occurred April 15, 1862.
widow still survives and lives in Edinburgh.
His
Rev. James Riddell (1), third son of Henry (1), of Little Govan,
was probably born in Glasgow, Scotland, April 18, 1794; married Dor-
othy, daughter (and co-heiress) of John Foster, of Leicester Grange, and
had issue several children, of whom hereafter. He was of Balliol College,
Oxford, and was vicar of Hanbury, Staffordshire. He was for many years
latterly at Leamington. He died in May, 1878, deeply lamented. See
portrait.
Robert Riddell (1), fourth son of Henry (1), of Little Govan, was
born May 29, 1797, presumably at Glasgow; married in 1834 to Susan,
* In the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh, Scotland, may be found the "Riddell Note
Books," about one hundred and fifty in number. In No. 43 is "Notes Relative to
the Family of Carmichael," including several from the Morton Charter-chest, with
pen-and-ink sketches of seals of the Rydale and Riddell family. The "Prefatory
Observations" to the "Catalogue of the Riddell Papers" gives a short notice of
the Papers and Note Books; a list of the published works of the late John Riddell,
Esq., advocate; a letter introducing Mr. Riddell to Cardinal Gonsalvi, from the
Rt. Hon. George Canning; a sketch, by Lord Lindsey, of the career and character of
the great genealogical scholar, with some remarks on it by the editor of the Edin-
burgh Courant; his epitaph and mementos of Faculty of Advocate and a portrait.
