KNIGHTs from Ireland to Philadelphia to France

Ridgway Family

NOTES :

A lot of informations and assertions about the Ridgway/Ridgeway/Rydeware lines are undocumented and often conflicting !
Please note that :
1. Our first Ridgway ancestor mentionned in our family bible (about 1920) is Thomas (1677-1724) (http://www.knight-france.com/geneal/docs/family_bible.htm)
2. According to our family tradition (Daniel Ridgway KNIGHT 1839-1924), Thomas ancestors were Earl of Londonderry...

We leave you to make your own opinion...

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Source <http://hughw36.blogspot.com/2008/04/myths.html>

"... The final test of the pedigree is its chronology.
The head of the pedigree would be born say 1650.
The 17th generation, Marchweithian, is said to have lived circa 1150AD, 500 years earlier, a spread of more than 35 years to the generation, which is unlikely. .

Finally, the cited paper continues the pedigree backward through 101 further generations, through Noah, Lamech, Enos, Seth, and Adam to God; a real curiosity tying together Biblical pedigrees, historic and mythological persons, without regard to chronology. .

The following Ridgway Pedigree has been published rather widely, most printed versions citing as source a James Ridgway Manuscript Genealogy, dated about 1897, and preserved in the collections of the Long Island (N. Y.) Historical Society. .

Leofric I, b. ab. 680, 1st Earl of Leicester, of Lincoln, & of Chester. A member of the Royal Family of Mercia.
Algar I, living 633, 2nd Earl of Leicester, Lincoln & Chester.
Algar II, killed 870, 3rd Earl of Leicester, Lincoln & Chester.
Leofric II, Earl of Leicester, Lincoln and Chester.

Leofwine, 5th Earl of Leicester, Lincoln, Chester & Hereford, created Duke of Mercia,
mar. Alware, grand daughter of Aethelstan, 1st King of all England.
He was living AD 1000.

Leofric III, d. 1057, 6th Earl of Leicester. He mar. Godiva, Countess of Coventry.
Algar III [Alfgar] 7th Earl of Leicester. He mar. Aelgifu, daughter of William Mallet.
Edwin, slain ca. 1071, 8th Earl of Leicester.
Asser, or Asceur of Edmonghale.
(Geo. C. Ridgeway adds that his wife was a daughter of William the Conqueror). Asser Geun.
William Geun, assumed name of Rydeware, mar. a dau. of William de Thanet.
Sir William de Rydeware, knt., by 1182.

Sir Walter de Rydeware mar. Matilde dau. of Sir Nicholas de Peche.
Walter de Rydeware mar. Ellen dau. Sir William fitz Herbert.
Sir Thomas de Rydeware de Rydeware, ward, on father's death, (1296) of Thomas Plantagenet, Earl of Lancaster, mar. (1) Margareta, m. (2) Isabella.

Robert de Rydeware b. ca. 1318, d. 1378.
Richard de Rydeware b. ca. 1350, d. 1410.
John de Rydeware, b. ca. 1380, d. ca. 1440, first to be called Ridgway.

Richard de Ridgway b. ca. 1410, d. ca. 1470.
Stephen de Ridgway b. ca. 1435, d. ca. 1500.
John de Ridgway b. ca. 1470, d. ca. 1556, of Torre Grange, Devon.
Thomas de Ridgway of Tor Mohun, Devon.

Sir Thomas Ridgway, 1st Earl of Londonderry, b. ca. 1565 d. 1631.
Sir Robert Ridgway 2nd Earl of Londonderry d.19 Mar. 1640/1 had two sons with other children: 1. Weston, 3rd Earl, 2. Robert bp. 1631.

Robert Ridgway bp. 24 Aug. 1631 at Torre Church, Devon.
Richard Ridgway, who came to America in 1679, bringing son Thomas b. 1677. .

We can add to the above the following from any of the Peerage compilations:
Weston Ridgeway, b. 25 Mar. bp. April 4 1620, d. 1672, 3rd Earl, left 2 sons, Robert and Thomas:
Robert Ridgway, 4th Earl, died 1713/14 leaving only two daughters; his brother Thomas having predeceased him, s.p., the title became extinct. .

Anyone who knows peerage law would recognize from this that the Earldom would have then devolved back upon Robert, son of Sir Robert the 2nd Earl.

On his death it would have passed to his son.
If this Robert had predeceased the two sons of Weston, then the title would have been vested in his son Richard, who was, according to this pedigree, the 1679 colonist.

Yet Richard the colonist did not
(1) use a coat of arms or seal on any document,
(2) is not found to have made any claim for this Earldom on the death of these reputed cousins.
In fact he was a poor man, and a tailor, a trade most unlikely for the grandson of a rich Earl, even an illegitimate grandson.

This pedigree was passed on to Sir Anthony Richard Wagner, now Garter Principal King of Arms of the College of Arms for his comments, which read as follows: .

"The first impossibility is the attachment of the Ridgways of Devon to the Rydewares of Staffordshire, but I must add to this the derivation of the Rydewares of Staffordshire from the Earls of Mercia is a fearful and wonderful invention.

When we add to this your dictum that the American Ridgways cannot come from the Earls of Londonderry there does not seem to be much left." .

Actually, the grandfather of the first Earl of Londonderry is unknown.

There are other major errors in the pedigree.
The title of Earl of Leicester is Norman, and was not used until the Conquest.

The pedigree back of Leofwine is sheer fabrication, since his ancestry is unknown, and there is certainly no ground for identifying his wife with a granddaughter of Aethelstane, nor has Alfgar's wife been accurately identified, and there is no ground for calling her a daughter of William Mallet.

William the Conqueror of course had no daughter, legitimate or otherwise, married to one Asser or Asceur. . "

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Source <http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/th/read/RIDGWAY/2004-07/1090293313> :

"The propagation of the USA Ridgway-Earl of Londonderry story, seems to be based on two "genealogies" one written by Ed Hoagland(1), and the other by James Ridgeway (which I suspect Hoagland was using). In both cases the information appears flawed, or there is no supporting or reproducible source. I see genealogy just like science, it must be repeatable and verifiable (ever hear of "if the glove doesn't' fit, don't convict," or "Cold Fusion" the next inexhaustible power source?). In Thurman's, Ridgways(3), they seem to have taken a more critical approach and don't mention the lineage stated earlier, and take note, they wrote it two decades later.

The biggest problem with the USA Ridgway-Earl of Londonderry connection is the number of Ridgways in England at the time. Why, out of all the masses in England, should Richard Ridgway (b. England, d. 1723 PA), be a descendant from the one Robert Ridgway (1631 England - 1670 England), son of an Earl? Right now it's not impossible, but it doesn't fit the category of probable.

I've spent years tracing all my royal lineage's, and everyone has fallen apart when I get to the one generation when there is nothing verifiable. One of the first things I had to do was try and get a handle on the geography.
Eventually I was able to ascertain a true lineage, and I take great pride in the hardships my true ancestors literally survived, from the simple daily life when there were no antibiotics, to the massacres in all the wars, famines and the crossing of the Atlantic, when many died.

So to some specific problems, I need to go back a little (nothing scholarly here). Torquay came into being around the mid 1800's(4) and is the modern name of the area the Earl of Londonderry came from(4). It was and still is in Devon, or Devonshire (I believe co. Devon is simply Devon now). Some sources state Robert Ridgway (1631-1670) was baptized at "Torre Church, Devonshire. In 1631 there was no "Torre" church -- so the citation certainly appears to be false(5). Baptisms up to 1637 at Tor Abbey manor, were in the Wolborough parish, at Newton Abbot(5).

James Ridgeway, states, Weston Ridgway (1620-1670), brother of Robert (1613-1670) sold "Torre Abbey" in 1653. For a fair accounting of this see notes on Torre Abbey by Pike(6). It appears Weston may have retained parts of "Torwood Manor" after the sale. Anyway, I'm getting side tracked from the specific generation I'm trying to fix.

The biggest question would be then, if all this was occurring in Devon, why were Richard Ridgway and Elizabeth Chamberlain married in Wallingford, Berkshire, England ?

So it comes back to the original question. Why of all the Ridgways in England, would our Richard Ridgway (England, 1723 PA) be the son of the Richard, son of an Earl????

1. Hoagland, Edward C. "Twigs from Family Trees, Notes on the Ridgway Families of Bradford County, PA, Descendants of David, Richard, Robert and Burr Ridgway Pioneers" 1958.
2. Ridgeway, James. "Ridgway Family" manuscript, Long Island, NY: Historical Society, n.d. 3. Ridgway, Thurman, Gertrude N. Brick. "Ridgways USA." Baltimore, MD: Gateway Press, Inc, 1980.
4. "Background to Torquay's Growth" <http://www.swgfl.org.uk/seaside/Torbay_main.htm>;
5. Various searches on parishes.
6. "Bytes of Torbays Past" Torre Abbey, © copyright John Pike. <http://www.torbytes.co.uk/op/tm8/lv2/item1479.htm>;"

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Source <http://darwinmorrison.com/thomasridgway.html> :

"Ridgway Origin

The Ridgway infmation has been extracted from "Twigs From Family Trees, Notes On The Ridgway Families of Bradford County, PA" by the Rev. Edward Coolbaugh Hoagland, Towanda, PA., 1958. The copy studies is in the records of the Bradford County Historical Society, Towanda, Pennsylvania.

The Granger-Hurd-Evans families trace their Ridgway lineage through Achsah (Ridgway) Granger, wife of George T. Granger and mother of Joseph Warren Granger.

Ridgway and Ridgeway are of local origin, coming from residence at "the ridge-way", or the road over the back a hill. In the earlies records this name was written "Rydeware". The accounts of this ancient family have been written by various historians, but in the "Ridgway Family Manuscript" by James Ridgway, to be found in the Long Island, NY, Historical Society, is the following:

The pedigree of the family is best given by Sir Thomas De Rydeware in the Chartulary" prepared by him at great length in 1308, and which was published in the "History and Antiquity of Leicester " by John Nicolas, and which is followed in this genealogy. A less extensive but siliar pedigree appears in Glover's "History of Derby". Sir Thomas de Rydeware carried this pedigree back to Asser, in the time of Norman Conquest.

The earliest account of the family extant is that which is given by the great antiquarian authority, sir William Dugdale in his "Baronage of england", under the title of Earls of Chester, and also in his famous work, "Monastician Angelicantum". there he gives a record of Leofric I, who signs himself Earl of Leicester in the year 716 (the first who bore that title.) and who was also Earl of Chester; and a record also of Leofric's descendants and successors to those earldoms.

Notes: Information was obtained from 60 page typed document written by Doublas B. (O'Neil) Evans."

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This pedigree of the Ridgway family is given by the Rev Edward Coolbaugh Hoagland, in his book published in 1958: "Twigs from Family Trees, Notes on the Ridgway Families of Bradford County, PA, Descendants of David, Richard, Robert and Burr Ridgway Pioneers"

He states about the ancestors of the American Ridgway family: 'Ridgway and Ridgeway are of local origin, from the residence at "the ridge-way" or the road over the back of the hill. In the earliest records this name was written "Rydeware". The accounts of this ancient family have been written by various historians, but in the "Ridgway Family Manuscript" by James Ridgeway, to be found in the Long Island, NY Historical Society is the following: the pedigree of the family is best given by Sir Thomas de Rydeware in the "Chartulary" prepared by him at great length in 1308, and which was published in the "History and Antiquity of Leicester" by John Nicholas, vol. III, part 2, pp. 983,984,999-1007,979, 994, and which we have followed as the basis of this history down to the children of Sir Thomas de Rydeware.

A less extensive but similar pedigree appears in Glover's "History of Derby". Sir Thomas de Rydeware carried his pedigree back to Asser, in the time of the Conquest. The earliest account of the family extant is that which is given by the great antiquarian authority Sir William Dugdale, in his "Baronage of England" under the title of Earls of Chester; and also in his famous work the "Honastician Angelicantum". There he gives a record of Leofric I who signs himself Earl of Leicester in the year 716 (the first who bore that title) and who was also Earl of Chester; and a record also of Leofric's descendants and successors to those earldoms continuously down to Eadwyne, at the time of the Conquest, and who was grandson of the renowned Leofric III and Godiva his wife, Countess of Coventry, which Leofric was son of Leofwine; who, from Leofwine to Eadwyne, were, for four generations, Dukes of Mercia, in addition to their earlier titles of Earls of Leicester, Chester, etc.

Those who wish for further information on many of the intermarrying lines down through the generations should be pleased to refer to the compiler's companion volume, "162 Allied Families" pp. 5-34, 82, 83 etc.'

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