RIDLEYS OF MICKLEY FARM, NORTHUMBERLAND.
463
ton, married and had two sons, of whom hereafter. Resides somewhere
in Northumberland.
5
Thomas Ridley (3), second son of Cuthbert' (5).
Margaret Ridleys (1), eldest daughter of Cuthbert (5), was married
to a Mr. Lodge.
5
Mary Ridley (2), second daughter of Cuthbert' (5).
Henry Ridley (4), third son of Cuthbert' (5).
Isabella Ridley (5), third daughter of Cuthbert (5), wife of
Weddell.
Elizabeth Ridley' (2), fourth daughter of Cuthbert* (5).
Susan Ridley" (4), fifth daughter of Cuthbert' (5).
Ann Ridley (2), sixth daughter of Cuthbert (5), was married to G.
Swan, and had a son and daughter; died in 1869. The former, Robert
Swan, is a barrister-at-law.
John Ridley' (7), eldest son of John' (4), was born at Hylton, near
Sunderland, County of Durham, May 26, 1806. His father died when he
was only five years of age, leaving him and one sister to be brought up
by his mother, who being a most remarkable woman, faithfully applied
herself to the instruction of her children. At the age of fifteen this lad
did a man's work in the flour-mill, contriving also to read everything he
could find. His mother's house was a home for the itinerant preachers
of the day, who all took especial notice of the clever boy, and assisted in
his development. At the age of seventeen he became a local preacher,
and was noticed as full of promise. At his mother's death, when he was
thirty, she was under his care. He married the daughter of Mr. Pybas,
who was at the head of a large school for boys, well known in the north
of England; this was at West Bolton, near Hylton, his birthplace. In
1840 he went to Australia as one of the earliest colonists. The story of
his venture is worthy a place in this book. Feeling more energy than could
find scope in a small country village, he made it a matter of earnest prayer
that he might be sent to some place where he was needed and could work
and in some way fulfil his early aspirations to become a missionary. From
that day the way opened to Australia, and the first thing he heard when
the ship touched land was that a public meeting had been called to con-
sider how the wheat of the first good harvest was to be ground, as there
was no mill. The meeting was unnecessary, for within a month John
Ridley's mill was up and at work. A year or two later he met a still
greater need by inventing a machine for reaping the corn, and gave it to
the colony without reserving patent rights. In all works on the colony
this machine is recognized as one of the chief agents in its advancement.
Testimonials, expressive of the appreciation of the people of the colony,
including a piece of plate presented in London, were tendered Mr.
Ridley, and a county there bears his name. He lived at Close House,
near Hexham, Northumberland, but for the last twenty years at 19 Belsize
Park, Hampstead. He is said to resemble the portrait of Bishop Ridley,
the martyr, and to be extremely like him in character. He is ad-
vanced in theological views, and now spends all his time and not a little
money in the gratuitous circulation of literature advocating the liberal
theology as against the eternity of punishment, a dogma from which he
suffered greatly in his early years. He had issue five children, of whom
hereafter.
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