This continuing investigation seeks not only to establish the names and dates within the Ridgeway family tree, but also to bring together the people and stories behind those names. By following the lives of individuals who left Bishopsteignton, and tracing their descendants through subsequent generations, it is now becoming possible to build a much more complete picture of the Ridgeway family and its remarkable journey from a Devon village to communities around the world.
The research therefore remains very much a work in progress. Each new document, family story or contact with a living relative has the potential to reveal another piece of the puzzle—and perhaps another branch of the Ridgeway family yet to be discovered.
Australia
On 10th March 1842, a descendant of the Ridgeway family Bishopsteignton Samuel Ridgeway (1821-1863) brother of my 3rd Great Grandfather James Ridgeway (1805-1873), along with his wife Eliza Ledger (1822-1884) from Abbotskerswell, embarked on a momentous journey to Australia aboard the 430 ton vessel the Ganges, leaving behind the familiar surroundings of their Devon home in search of new opportunities and employment.
The voyage was part of a larger migration scheme, with the Ganges carrying 61 emigrants engaged to work for the Australian Agricultural Company, an enterprise with extensive pastoral and agricultural interests in New South Wales. The ship sailed from Plymouth and eventually arrived at Port Jackson on June 25th bringing the emigrants into a very different world from the one they had known in Devon.
Upon settling, the couple lived in an area called ‘Crooms Park’ in the Dungog district of New South Wales, where together they produced a total of eight children:
William George (1843-1926)
Ann (1845-1937)
Maria (1847-1937)
Samuel (1848-1849)
Jane (1851-1925)
George (1853-1853)
Adelaide (1856-1905)
Amelia (9thApril 1856 - 3rd October 1856)
Of the eight, Adelaide (my 1st cousin 3 x removed) then aged 20, went on to marry a William Augustus Nicholas in 1876.
Pictured here in the background are: Adelaide with William, and in the foreground their six children (2nd cousins 3 x removed).
William Samuel (seated), Archibald Stanley (with dog), Eliza Jane (seated), Lillian Maude, Ernest John (seated) and Adelaide M.L sitting on the ground
For the Ridgeways, however, this new beginning was soon overshadowed by tragedy.
Samuel Ridgeway was claimed by a tragic accident twenty one years after their arrival in Australia where the following newspaper clip explains the event:
Dungog District News article of Samuel Ridgeway Tragic death
Samuel's tragic death would have left Eliza facing the enormous challenge of beginning a new life in a distant country without her young husband, this in addition to losing both her son George and daughter Amelia in their first years. Their story captures both the hope and hardship experienced by many nineteenth-century emigrant families: the courage to leave Devon for a new life overseas, followed by the untimely and devastating loss of a husband and children respectively. Plus the uncertain future Eliza was now forced to face alone. Nevertheless, seven years after her husbands death, Eliza remained in the area re-marrying a John Cox in 1870 and watched her children marry into local pioneering families such as the ‘Wenhams’, until her death in 1884.
California
My Great Grandfather William Richard Ridgeway (1874-1946) a Domestic Gardener at Bishopsteignton Vicarage had a half brother, my half grand uncle George Henry Ridgeway (1871-1936). George, born in Bishopsteignton, married a Sarah Bettridge on 25th August 1894 in Bathwick St Mary, Somerset after moving there to become a Police Constable, retiring at 50 in 1921 to finally reside at 1 Fairfield view, Fairfield Park, Bath. George passed away on 2nd February 1936 and was buried at Locksbrook Cemetery, Bath, along with wife Sarah who passed away 30th March 1941.
George and Sarah produced two children: Georgina Evelyn & Ivor Leslie Ridgeway.
George Henry Ridgeway 1871 - 1936
Georgina Evelyn Ridgeway 1896 - 1978
Ivor Leslie Ridgeway 1898 - 1990
Georgina, a dressmaker, went on to marry a William John Hill in April 1924, whilst Ivor continued the family trait by becoming a policeman, and going on to marry an Alice Maud Elms in June 1922.
Ivor front row 6th from left
Ivor Leslie & Alice Maud produced a son Colin G Ridgeway born 1927 who went on to become Chief Inspector of Avon & Somerset Police later marrying a Madeline V Coleman in April 1953.
Chief Inspector Colin George Ridgeway
Colin and Madeline Ridgeway honeymoon
George’s commitment to police work appears to have had a lasting influence on the Ridgeway family, as his Great Grandson Michael P Ridgeway (1959- living) followed in his footsteps and went on to pursue a career in policing as a mounted Police Officer. Georges other Great Grandson Keith J Ridgeway (1955-living) migrated to California from Exmouth in 1986 and has two sons, William (1981-living) and James (1986-living) who have kindly granted permission for me to use their photographs for this article.
This section of research has created a remarkable family connection to the profession, with the values of public service, duty and responsibility being passed from one generation to the next.
The Ridgeway story has continued into more recent generations, although in different parts of the world: descendants of a family whose moves marked a significant new chapter in the family’s history.
Emerging from the quiet Devon village of Bishopsteignton, the descendants of the Ridgeway family carried their hopes, memories, and sense of home far beyond the familiar hills and lanes of their ancestors. Some journeyed across the seas to California, others travelled to New South Wales, Australia, while others found new homes and lives in other corners of the world.
Yet, separated by thousands of miles, they remained connected by the same ancestral thread that began in Devon, their lives becoming branches spreading ever farther from the family tree. Their journeys remind us that leaving home does not mean losing our way; sometimes it is through wandering that we discover where we truly belong.
For all who wander are not lost—they carry their history with them, wherever in the world their journey may lead.
Photographic permissions granted by Keith Ridgeway, Imperial Beach, California 19/08/2026 14.22hrs GMT (thank you Keith)