Glocester (or Gloster) Ridley (1702–1774) was an
English miscellaneous writer.
Life
Named Glocester after the ''Glocester'' Indiaman in which he was born at sea in 1702, he was a collateral descendant of
Bishop Nicholas Ridley, and son of Matthew Ridley of
Bencoolen,
East Indies
The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around t ...
(now
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
). He was educated at
Winchester College
Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...
, becoming scholar in 1718, when he was described as of St. Alban, Wood Street, London. He matriculated from
Trinity College, Oxford
(That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody)
, named_for = The Holy Trinity
, established =
, sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge
, president = Dame Hilary Boulding
, location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH
, coordinates ...
, on 14 October 1721, but was admitted a scholar of
New College on 1 September 1722, becoming Fellow on 18 June 1724, before the usual two years of probation had been completed. He graduated
B.C.L.
Bachelor of Civil Law (abbreviated BCL, or B.C.L.; la, Baccalaureus Civilis Legis) is the name of various degrees in law conferred by English-language universities. The BCL originated as a postgraduate degree in the universities of University of O ...
on 29 April 1729, and the degree of
D.D.
A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity.
In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ra ...
was conferred upon him by diploma on 25 February 1767.
Ridley was ordained in the English church, and was curate to
William Berriman, D.D. He was Berriman's executor, and preached his funeral sermon. In 1733, he was appointed by his college to the small benefice of
Weston Longueville, Norfolk, thereby vacating his fellowship in 1734. He was also chaplain to the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
at
Poplar, where he chiefly resided, and lecturer at
St. Ann's, Middlesex; and in 1751 he was presented by his college to the donative of
Romford
Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romford ...
in Essex. When the
Duke of Bedford
Duke of Bedford (named after Bedford, England) is a title that has been created six times (for five distinct people) in the Peerage of England. The first and second creations came in 1414 and 1433 respectively, in favour of Henry IV's third so ...
was made
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the Kingdo ...
in 1756, Ridley declined an offer of the first chaplaincy, although it was coupled with a promise of promotion in England. He remained without substantial preferment until May 1766, when he was appointed to the prebendal stall of Teignton Regis in
Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury.
The buildi ...
by
Archbishop Secker
Thomas Secker (21 September 16933 August 1768) was the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England.
Early life and studies
Secker was born in Sibthorpe, Nottinghamshire. In 1699, he went to Richard Brown's free school in Chesterfield, ...
.
Ridley died on 3 November 1774, and was buried on 10 November in the cemetery at Poplar, the epitaph on his monument being written by Lowth. Ridley's library was sold by Benjamin White in 1775.
Associations
Ridley was known to many learned men, including
Bishop Lowth
Robert Lowth ( ; 27 November 1710 – 3 November 1787) was a Bishop of the Church of England, Oxford Professor of Poetry and the author of one of the most influential
textbooks of English grammar.
Life
Lowth was born in Hampshire, England, G ...
and the poet
Christopher Pitt
Christopher Pitt (1699 – 13 April 1748) was an English clergyman poet; he was also a translator whose performance was esteemed in his day.
Family connections
Christopher Pitt came from a family wide-spread in the West of England. Several o ...
. To the latter he presented a set of verses 'on his poems and translations.' To
Joseph Spence,
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...
's friend, he was especially close. Spence gave him Pope's cane, and made him his executor. Three letters from Ridley to Spence are in the appendix to Spence's 'Anecdotes' (1858 edition, pp. 320–7), and Ridley addressed to Spence his imitation of
Horace
Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...
's
Ode
An ode (from grc, ᾠδή, ōdḗ) is a type of lyric poetry. Odes are elaborately structured poems praising or glorifying an event or individual, describing nature intellectually as well as emotionally. A classic ode is structured in three majo ...
12, bk. iv. in
Dodsley's ''Museum'' (i. 135–6).
William Duncombe
William Duncombe (19 January 1690 – 26 February 1769) was a British author and playwright.
Life
Duncombe worked in the Navy Office from 1706 until 1725. That year, he and Elizabeth Hughes won a very large lottery sum on a joint ticket. He mar ...
's translation of the second book of the ''
Epistles of Horace
The ''Epistles'' (or ''Letters'') of Horace were published in two books, in 20 BC and 14 BC, respectively.
*''Epistularum liber primus'' (''First Book of Letters'') is the seventh work by Horace, published in the year 20 BC. This book consists o ...
'' is dedicated to him.
Works
Ridley wrote:
*''The Christian passover. Four sermons: in which the doctrine of the Lord's supper is laid down ... Preached in Lent, M.DCC.XXXVI'', 1742
*''Eight sermons on the divinity and operations of the Holy Ghost preached at the Cathedral of St. Paul in London: in the years 1740, 1741''.
Lady Moyer lectures
The Moyer Lectures were an annual series of theological lectures delivered in London from 1719 to 1774, designed to support the orthodox interpretation of the Christian Trinity.
The initial lecturer was Daniel Waterland, who had much to do with th ...
, published 1742.
*''Jovi Eleutherio, or an Offering to Liberty''
non. 1745; this subsequently (1748) appeared in Dodsley's 'Collection of Poetry,' iii. 44–58.
*''A sermon preached before the honourable Trustees for Establishing the Colony of Georgia in America, and the Associates of the late Reverend Dr. Bray at their anniversary meeting, 20 March, 1745-6. in the parish church of St. Margaret, Westminister'', 1746
*''Constitution in church and state. Three sermons preached on occasion of the present rebellion, at St. Ann's Limehouse, and the chapel of Poplar, in Sept. and Oct. 1745'', 1746
*''The good Christian never dies A sermon preached in the parish church of St. Andrew Undershaft, at the funeral of William Berriman, D.D. 10 February 1749'', 1750
*''God's threatnings against sinful nations exemplified, and improved A sermon preached in the chapels of Romford and Poplar, ... 1 and 8 April 1750.'', 1750
*''The blessing of religion to civil societies. A sermon preach'd at the assizes held at Thetford, for the county of Norfolk, on Friday, 23 March 1753'', 1753
*''The difference and respective use of the moral, civil and ceremonial law. A sermon preach'd at the assizes held at Norwich, on Wednesday, 15 August 1753'', 1753
*''A sermon preached before the Sons of the Clergy in the cathedral church of St. Paul, on Thursday, 28 April 1757. By Glocester Ridley, ... To which is annexed, A list of the annual amount of the collection for this charity, from the year 1721'', 1757
*''A sermon preached in the parish-church of Christ-Church, London, on Thursday 5 May 1757 being the time of the yearly meeting of the children educated in the charity-schools, in and about the cities of London and Westminster'', 1758
*''De Syriacarum Novi Fœderis Versionum indole atque usu dissertatio'', 1761, dedicated to Archbishop Secker; it is reprinted at the end of Semler's edition of J. J. Wetstein's ''Libelli ad crisen atque interpretationem Novi Testamenti'' (Halæ, 1776), p. 247. Ridley had received four manuscripts from Mesopotamia, two of which contained 'binas versiones Cyriacas Novi Fœderis tabularum,' and although he was without a preceptor, and even lacked a knowledge of the letters, he applied himself to a study of the language and learnt it. The manuscripts were left by him to New College, Oxford, and they were printed at the expense of the delegates of the
Clarendon Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
in 1778, by the Rev. Joseph White, D.D.
*''Life of Bishop Nicholas Ridley'', 1763; the success of this volume enabled him to invest 800l. in the funds; the greater part of it was reprinted in 'The Voice of the Church,' 1840, vols. i. ii.
*''A Review of Mr. Phillips's History of the Life of Reginald Pole'', 1766.
*''A Letter to the Author of the Confessional''
non. 1768; this was followed in the same year by second and third letters, and all three, in which Archbishop Secker assisted, were bound up together with a general title.
Francis Blackburne
Francis Blackburne PC (Ire) KS (11 November 1782 – 17 September 1867) was an Irish judge and eventually became Lord Chancellor of Ireland.
Background
Born at Great Footstown in County Meath, he was the son of Richard Blackburne of Great Foot ...
, the anonymous author of ''The Confessional'', subsequently replied to them, and so did "A Country Clergyman" (said to be
Thomas Gwatkin
Thomas Gwatkin (1741–1800) was an English cleric and academic. He is known as a Tory and loyalist figure at the College of William & Mary in colonial Williamsburg, Virginia.
Life
He was the son of Thomas Gwatkin of Hackney, Middlesex. He matric ...
).
*''Melampus: a Poem in Four Books, with Notes, by the late Gloster Ridley'', 1781. On the title-page is a medallion portrait of the author, painted by Scoule, and engraved by John Hall. Prefixed is Ridley's poem of ‘Psyche,’ which had previously appeared in Dodsley's ‘Museum’ (iii. 80–97) and in Dodsley's ‘Collection of Poetry’ (iii. 33–43). The publication was effected by George Steevens for the benefit of Ridley's widow and family.
Some of his poems, including one on the death of George I and on the accession of George II from the Oxford set of verses on those events, appear in Nichols's ‘Collection of Poems’ (viii. 74–82, 112–34).
While young Ridley was fond of acting, and in 1728 he and four companions wrote the tragedy of ''The Fruitless Redress'', each of them contributing an act. He afterwards composed the play of ''Jugurtha'', but neither piece was produced on the public stage or printed.
Theophilus Cibber
Theophilus Cibber (25 or 26 November 1703 – October 1758) was an English actor, playwright, author, and son of the actor-manager Colley Cibber.
He began acting at an early age, and followed his father into theatrical management. In 1727, Alex ...
, his contemporary at Winchester, is said to have called upon him at
Poplar, and to have pressed him to adopt the stage as his profession. Verses and translations by him, apparently written while he was at college, are in the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
.
[Brit. Mus. Addit. MS. 28717.]
Family
Ridley left a widow and four daughters. In his old age he lost both his sons,
James Ridley
James Kenneth Ridley (1736–1765) was an English author educated at University College, Oxford. He served as a chaplain with the British Army. He is best known for a volume of imitation Orientalia.
Writings
Ridley wrote two novels: ''The Histo ...
and Thomas Ridley, a writer in the service of the East India Company at Madras, where he was no sooner settled than he died of smallpox. His daughter Mary (d. 1809), wife of Edward Evans (d. 1807), captain in the 23rd Foot, is said to have written several novels. Margaret Ridley, 'the last survivor of his family,' died at
Hingham, Norfolk
Hingham is a market town and civil parish in mid-Norfolk, England. The civil parish covers an area of and had a population of 2,078 in 944 households at the time of the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census, increasing to 2,367 at the 2011 Cen ...
in 1837, aged 91.
References
;Attribution
*Lysons's Environs, iii. 457–8, iv. 197
*Terry's Old Romford, pp. 225–7
*Notes and Queries, 7th ser. i. 230
*Kirby's Winchester Scholars, p. 227
*Gent. Mag. 1774, pp. 505–8, 542, 554 (where some extracts from 'Jugurtha' are given), 1775 passim (on the authorship of the 'Confessional'), 1809 i. 587, 1837 i. 332
*Nichols's Lit. Anecdotes, i. 641–9, iii. 689, vi. 455, viii. 410
*Ridlon's Ancient Ryedales, pp. 431–5
*Le Neve's Fasti, ii. 675
*Blomefield's Norfolk, viii. 292
*information from Dr. Sewell of New College
External links
Glocester Ridleyat th
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (ECPA)Rev. Glocester Ridley (1702–1774)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridley, Glocester
1702 births
1774 deaths
English writers
People born at sea