People Australia

Charles Dawson Ridley (1785-1845) was an agriculturalist who was among the earliest emigrants to the Swan River colony. He was born on 6 May 1785 and was baptised in the parish of Saint Mary, Lambeth, in England.[1] Charles was born to John (d.1788) and Elizabeth Ridley (dates unknown), although further details of his ancestry are yet to be established.[2] His father died in April 1788 just a few years after his birth. In his will John bequeathed all his property to his wife Elizabeth.[3]

By 1811, Charles must have emigrated to the West Indies, as he entered the Essequibo Militia’s second battalion, fourth company at that time.[4] The militia was a military force raised from the civil population to supplement the regular army, and comprised all male residents of Essequibo and Demerara that were “able and liable to carry arms.”[5] The second battalion’s fourth company specifically recruited inhabitants “from Plantation no. 1 to the River Pomeroon,” meaning Charles Ridley must have been living within this area of Essequibo at the time.[6] Ridley was possibly living at the ‘Federal Hall’ plantation, of which a ‘Chs Ridley’ is listed as part owner in late July 1811.[7] He was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant within a few months of service in the militia.[8] By November 1815, however, he had “removed [himself] from the district” and, following his relocation, left the militia.[9]

Ridley married Mary Eliza Forrester (1801-1883) in Demerara on 14 September 1816.[10] Mary was born in Berbice to Lewis Forrester (dates unknown) and an unknown mother.[11] She had at least two sisters: Rachel Forrester, who married James Benny (also Binnie, Binny) in 1813, and Johanna Forrester, who married James Walcott (1791-1872) in 1815.[12] Both Rachel and Johanna were minors at the time of their marriage.[13] Although the couple made several trips away from Demerara, including aboard the ship Governor Harcourt in July 1817, their absences were likely temporary, as Ridley later reflected in a West Australian newspaper article in 1845 that he previously had “a residence of more than twenty years in one of the sugar colonies.”[14] They returned within at least a few years, as the first three of their nine children are reported to have been born in Demerara between 1819 and 1823: Charles L. Ridley (1819-1848), Eliza Ridley (1821-1834) and Joseph Beete Ridley (1823-1893).[15] Joseph Beete Ridley may have been named after Joseph Beete of Clifton, Bristol, who was a business associate of his father.[16] In April 1824, Mary Eliza (interestingly, using her maiden name, Forrester) appears in the Demerary and Essequebo Royal Gazette announcing her intention to leave the colony by the ship Zeemeeuw.[17]

In 1826 Charles Ridley was an attorney and administrator, or manager, of at least three estates in Demerara: Somerset and Berks, Turkeyen and Henrietta, and Vrees en Hoop.[18] The Somerset and Berks estate, along with its population of 105 enslaved people, was sold by Ridley on behalf of Charles D. Forrester in 1817, though no further details exist of the estate whilst under Ridley’s administration.[19] In 1826, whilst under Charles’ administration, the Turkeyen and Henrietta estate housed 186 enslaved people and the Vrees en Hoop plantation held 231.[20] Although no records of production are available for this period, in 1813, prior to Ridley’s management, the Turkeyen estate was producing 18,500 pounds of cotton, whilst the Vrees en Hoop plantation produced 322,246 pounds of sugar, 24,537 gallons of rum and 53,113 pounds of coffee.[21] From this, it seems reasonable to assume that the Turkeyen and Vrees en Hoop plantations continued to produce vast amounts of slave-produced goods — and reap the profits — under Ridley’s administration. In 1823 the landmark Demerara Slave Rebellion took place, galvanising the anti-slavery movement and crystallising tensions around slave reform in the colony. This constituted a key moment in the dismantling of West Indian slave systems, and probably prompted some colonists, such as the Ridleys, to leave the colony.[22] By 1826, Ridley was no longer recorded as owner or manager of any Demerara estates, suggesting that he and his wife may have divested themselves of property and interests in Demerara by this time.[23] He does not appear to have been granted any slavery compensation, however his wife Mary may have been the Mary Forrester who was granted compensation for the ownership of one enslaved person.[24] In 1828, Ridley and his wife moved to England, where their fourth child, Lewis Forrester Ridley, was born. Lewis was baptised on 26 November 1829 in the parish of Saint Pancras, Middlesex.[25] 

Charles Ridley emigrated to the Swan River colony (Western Australia) aboard the Wanstead, which left London on 14 August 1829 and arrived in the colony on 30 January 1830.[26] His wife Mary and their young children Charles, Lewis Forrester, Eliza and Joseph Beete, followed shortly after on the Medina, arriving on 6 July 1830.[27]

The early records of land for the Swan River indicate that Ridley brought to the colony investments worth a total of £1154, 17s 7d (£214, 1s of which was deemed applicable to the cultivation of land).[28] In accordance, he secured a land grant of 12,546 acres.[29] He also brought with him several servants: Edward Webb, John Webb, John Higley, Jacob Woodard, and Lorence Cocinsaw, who was born in Goa, India.[30] Upon his arrival, Ridley was also in business partnership with James Walcott, his brother-in-law, and Charles Hinds, described as an agriculturalist.[31] Ridley selected 8,750 acres of land in the Avon district, 317.5 acres at Helena, and 143.5 acres in the Swan district.[32] He was successfully growing potatoes at his Swan property as early as 1831.[33] His time in Demerara also led him to propose the production of sugar, cotton, and coffee in the “sufficiently warm” Swan River colony: all of these crops had previously been produced on his Demerara estates by his enslaved labour force.[34] He also sought to develop the Swan River’s timber industry, proposing an export trade of jarrah in April 1843.[35] When this met with limited interest, he tried again in February 1845 to develop a trade in sandalwood, beginning with a small shipment to Singapore and later to Bombay.[36]

Ridley’s family continued to grow, with the births of Mary Forrester Ridley (1833-1835), Ellen Bull Ridley (1836-1891), Harriet McKenzie Ridley (1838-1867), Susan Hinds Ridley (1842-1919) and Elizabeth Ridley (b.1846). The family relocated to the Baylie Farm, York, by August 1838.[37]

Charles died on 24 December 1845 at Seabrook, aged sixty, after “a few days’ illness.”[38] He was buried in Northam.[39] His wife Mary died in 1883 in Gingin.[40]

Footnotes 
[1] ‘Charles Dawson Ridley,’ Church of England Baptisms, St. Mary at Lambeth, England, 1785, London Metropolitan Archives, P85/MRY1/347, Ancestry.com Online Database, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com.au/discoveryui-content/view/2084183:1624?tid=&pid=&queryId=389a0be945cd7aff9b28860fbc569083&_phsrc=Gnd15&_phstart=successSource

[2] ‘Charles Dawson Ridley,’ Church of England Baptisms, St. Mary at Lambeth, England. There are no ages or years of birth given for John or Elizabeth Ridley.

[3] Will of John Ridley of Lambeth, Surrey, 1788, National Archives United Kingdom, PROB11/1165/190, https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D424907

[4] Essequebo and Demerary Royal Gazette, 14 December 1811, https://www.vc.id.au/edg/18111214edrg.html

[5] ‘Number of Battalions of Militia in both Colonies,’ Essequebo and Demerary Royal Gazette, 20 April 1811, https://www.vc.id.au/edg/18110420edrg.html

[6] Essequebo and Demerary Royal Gazette, 20 April 1811.

[7] Essequebo and Demerary Royal Gazette, 10 August 1811, https://www.vc.id.au/edg/18110810edrg.html

[8] Essequebo and Demerary Royal Gazette, 14 December 1811.

[9] Essequebo and Demerary Royal Gazette, 1 November 1815, https://www.vc.id.au/edg/18151111derg.html

[10] S. Anderson, ‘Marriages: Grooms – Surnames M to Z,’ Transcriptions from the Royal Gazette of British Guiana, https://sites.rootsweb.com/~nyggbs/Transcriptions/RoyalGazette/MtoZ_GroomsRoyGaz.pdf, 3.

[11] Anderson, ‘Marriages: Grooms – Surnames M to Z,’ Transcriptions from the Royal Gazette of British Guiana, 3.

[12] Essequebo and Demerary Royal Gazette, 5 April 1815, https://www.vc.id.au/edg/18150415derg.html; 'Jane Dodds to Captain Demeades,’ 2 May 1838, Dodds family correspondence 1831-1995, State Library of Western Australia, acc. no. 6121A, https://encore.slwa.wa.gov.au/iii/encore/record/C__Rb1691327

[13] S. Anderson, ‘Marriages: Brides – Surnames A to L,’ Transcriptions from the Royal Gazette of British Guiana, https://sites.rootsweb.com/~nyggbs/Transcriptions/RoyalGazette/AtoL_BridesRoyGaz.pdf, 4; Essequebo and Demerary Royal Gazette, 5 April 1815.

[14] The Royal (Colophon) Gazette Demerary and Essequebo, 12 July 1817, https://www.vc.id.au/edg/18170712rg.html; Charles Dawson Ridley, ‘To the Editor of the Inquirer,’ The Inquirer, 19 February 1845, 3.

[15] Charles Dawson Ridley, Western Australian Bicentennial Dictionary (WABD) pre-1829-1988, ed. Rica Erickson (Perth: University of Western Australia Press, 1987.

[16] Jane Lydon, “From Demerara to Swan River: Charles Dawson Ridley and James Walcott in Western Australia,” Australian Journal of Biographical History (Special Issue) 6, no. 1 (2022), 37; ‘Joseph Beete of Clifton,’ Legacies of British Slavery Database, University College London, https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146633269.

[17] S. Anderson, ‘D to H – Quit Colony Listing’, Demerary and Essequebo Royal Gazette, https://sites.rootsweb.com/~nyggbs/Transcriptions/RoyalGazette/DtoGQuitColony.pdf, 2

[18] The Royal Gazette, Demerary and Essequebo, 21 June 1817, https://www.vc.id.au/edg/18170621rg.html; ‘Charles Dawson Ridley,’ Legacies of British Slavery Online Database, University College London, https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146652249; ‘Vrees en Hoop Estate,’ Legacies of British Slavery Online Database, University College London, https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/estate/view/792; ‘Turkeyen and Henrietta Estate(s),’ Legacies of British Slavery Online Database, University College London, https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/estate/view/8102; ‘Somerset and Berks,’ Legacies of British Slavery Online Database, University College London, https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/estate/view/8008.

[19] The Royal Gazette, Demerary and Essequebo, 21 June 1817.

[20] ‘Turkeyen and Henrietta Estate(s),’ Legacies of British Slavery Online Database, ‘Vrees en Hoop Estate,’ Legacies of British Slavery Online Database.

[21] ‘A List of Estates in Demerary and Essequebo,’ Demerary and Essequebo Royal Gazette, April 1815, https://www.vc.id.au/edg/181504derg-chart.htm

[22] Jane Lydon, “Racial Punishment from Slavery to Settler Colonialism: John Picton Beete in Demerara and Swan River,” Slavery and Abolition (2022): 6.

[23] Lydon, “From Demerara to Swan River,” AJBH, 28.

[24] ‘British Guiana claim no. 1059,’ Legacies of British Slavery Online Database, University College London, https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/claim/view/9270

[25] ‘Lewis Forrester Ridley,’ Church of England Baptisms, Old St. Pancras, England, 1829, London Metropolitan Archives, P90/PAN1/016, Ancestry.com Online Database, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com.au/discoveryui-content/view/151609193:1558?ssrc=pt&tid=175703739&pid=112284650901

[26] Wanstead passenger list, State Records Office of Western Australia, consignment 5000, accession no. 36/6/2-3, Western Australia Passenger Arrivals and Departures – Swan River Colony 1826-1838, produced by Graham Brown for the Swan River Pioneers Special Interest Group of the Western Australian Genealogical Society, Family History WA Online Database, http://data.fhwa.org.au/component/content/article/72-members/358-swan-river-colony-arrivals-and-departures-1829-1838; William Taylor Jay, ‘Account of a Voyage on the Wanstead to Swan River,’ State Library of New South Wales Archives, D35034/c03747, http://archival-classic.sl.nsw.gov.au/_transcript/2017/D35034/c03747.html

[27] Medina passenger list, State Records Office of Western Australia, cons. 5000, acc. 36/7/137, Passengers WA arrivals and departures, Family History WA Online Database, http://data.fhwa.org.au/component/content/article/72-members/358-swan-river-colony-arrivals-and-departures-1829-1838.

[28] ‘Return of property on which land has been claimed from 01/06/1829-30/06/1830,’ State Records Office of Western Australia, Consignment 5000, 683/02.

[29] ‘Return of Lands in Western Australia assigned up to the 20^th day of July 1832,’ State Records Office of Western Australia Cons5000, 683/03.

[30] Wanstead passenger list, SROWA, acc. 36/6/2-3, Passengers WA arrivals and departures, Family History WA Online Database, http://data.fhwa.org.au/component/content/article/72-members/358-swan-river-colony-arrivals-and-departures-1829-1838; ‘Lorence Cocinsaw,’ WABD.

[31] ‘Return of property on which land has been claimed from 01/06/1829-30/06/1830,’ SROWA, cons. 5000, acc. 683/02; Charles Dawson Ridley, WABD; Wanstead passenger list, SROWA, acc. 36/6/2-3, Passengers WA arrivals and departures, Family History WA Online Database; Lydon, “From Demerara to Swan River,” 38.

[32] Charles Dawson Ridley, WABD.

[33] Charles Dawson Ridley, ‘To the Editor of the Inquirer,’ The Inquirer, 12 February 1845, 4.

[34] Charles Dawson Ridley, ‘To the Editor of the Inquirer,’ The Inquirer, 19 February 1845, 3; Lydon, “From Demerara to Swan River,” 45-46.

[35] Charles Dawson Ridley, ‘To the Editor of the Inquirer,’ The Inquirer, 5 April 1843, 5.

[36] Lydon, “From Demerara to Swan River,” 45.

[37] Perth Gazette and Western Australian Journal, 6 October 1838, 2-3.

[38] ‘Died,’ The Inquirer, 7 January 1846, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/65769913.3, 2.

[39] ‘Charles Dawson Ridley,’ Find A Grave Online Database, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/242685464/charles-dawson-ridley

[40] ‘Mrs Mary Eliza Forrester Ridley,’ Find A Grave Online Database, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/141794591/mary-eliza-ridley