and took the photo as a reminder to research him to see how we might be related. Many of my Ridgeway ancestors had ended up in Uplowman: my 2x great-grandmother,
, also came to Uplowman and had no less than ten children there. Perhaps, I thought, Robert John Ridgeway will have 'belonged' to one of them. Now that I've worked my way through them, however, I discover he does not and actually exists in a parallel universe:
Private Robert John Ridgeway,
Royal Army Ordnance Corps, the parish website informs us, "...
died in November 1945, after the war in Europe had ended, in a road accident when the armoured Ford Lynx scout car that he was a passenger in, tried to overtake another vehicle in a convoy and left the road striking a tree on Watling Street, Shenstone in Staffordshire." Robert John Ridgeway died on 6 Nov 1945, is
buried in Uplowman churchyard and is remembered inside the church.
Robert John Ridgeway was born on 18 Mar 1927, was at home in 1939, at Uplowman Cross Cottage, Uplowman. Is that the same as 1 Crosses Cottage, Uplowman, where my relative, Frederick John Ponsford, son of
Charles Ponsford and Bessie Ann Stone, was living in 1970? Or 2 Crosses Cottages, Uplowman, where
Elsie Tremlett, daughter of
William Ridgeway and Florence Louise Finnimore, was living in 1979? Or even Lowman Cross, Uplowman where
Thomas and Ann Ridgway were living in 1871?
Sarah Ridgway
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John Ridgway bap. 27 Nov 1825 - Mary Parker b. 1831
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James Ridgway bap. 25 Apr 1858 - Eliza Vickery b. 1861
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Robert John Ridgeway b. 7 Sep 1898 - Louisa Baker b. 10 Dec 1899
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Robert John Ridgeway b. 18 Mar 1927 - d. 6 Nov 1945
Robert John Ridgeway's parents were Robert John Ridgeway (b. 7 Sep 1898) and Louisa Baker (b. 10 Dec 1899), who had married, in Tiverton, in 1924.
In 1911, Robert John Ridgeway Snr (12), born in Holcombe Rogus, was living with his widowed mother, Eliza (48), sister Florence Alice (9) and brother, Herbert Percy (6) at Passmore's Court, Halberton. In 1910, this Robert John Ridgeway had attended Halberton School. In 1901, living at Ford, 90, Holcombe Rogus, were James Ridgway (43) Cattleman on farm, from Stawley, Somerset, wife Eliza (39), Beatrice (13), Edith (11), Eliza (9), William (7), Lillie (5) and Robert John, listed simply as John (3).
Records suggest that James Ridgeway had married Eliza Vickery in the second quarter of 1887, in the Wellington, Somerset registration district.
The baptism for James Ridgway on 25 Apr 1858, in Stawley, Somerset, listed his parents as James and Mary Ridgway, however, in 1861, we find the 3 yr old, living at Parkley, Stawley, Wellington as the son of John Ridgway (33) Agricultural Labourer, with wife Mary (30) and John (8), Mary Ann (6), Sarah Jane (4), James (3), Charles (1) and Mary Cotter (12) Housemaid. In 1871, John Ridgeway (46) and wife Mary (40) were living at Stones Cottage, Stawley, Wellington, with John (18), Mary Ann (16), Sarah (14), James (13), Elizabeth (10), Emily (8), Thomas (6), Edwin (4) and William Henry (2).
John Ridgway married
Mary Parker, on 18 Apr 1851, at
St Michael & All Angels, Stawley. One of the witnesses was William Vickery. Mary Parker's father is listed as James Parker, while the name of John Ridgeway's father isn't listed ... which stacks up with
the baptism of John Ridgway in
Ashbrittle, on 27 Nov 1825, son of
Sarah Ridgway, described as 'single -
base'.
These earliest records of Baptisms, Burials & Marriages, were transcribed from the "Bishop's Transcripts", which were in poor condition. There aren't any further records to prove if we have a common ancestor. But, to be having an illegitimate child in 1825, there's a fair chance that Sarah Ridgway was born around 1805, give or take. My
3x great-grandfather, James Ridgway was born around 1806. They are from the same hamlet - the population in 2014 was only 225 - with the same surname. Their descendants all turn up in the same locations. They
could be siblings. They
could be first cousins. It would be much more difficult to accept that they were not at all related.
