Charles John Ridgeway (14 July 184128 February 1927) was an English churchman, the Bishop of Chichester from 1908 to 1919.
Life Ridgeway was born into an ecclesiastical family: his father Joseph Ridgeway was Vicar of Christ Church, Tunbridge Wells;“Who was Who” 1897-1990 London, A & C Black, 1991 his younger brother of Frederick became Bishop of Salisbury. He was educated at St Paul's School, and matriculated in 1860 at Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating B.A. in 1864, M.A. 1885 and D.D. 1906.The Times, Friday, 27 November 1863; pg. 5; Issue 24727; col F University Intelligence. Oxford, Nov. 25.
Ordained in 1866, Ridgeway spent a curacy at Christ Church, Tunbridge Wells"The Clergy List, Clerical Guide and Ecclesiastical Directory" London, Hamilton & Co 1889 before becoming Vicar of North Malvern, Rector of Buckhurst Hill, Vicar of Christchurch Lancaster Gate and Rural Dean of Paddington. From 1891-1894 he was a member of the London School Board, representing the Marylebone Division.
A Freemason, Ridgeway was under the jurisdiction of the United Grand Lodge of England. In 1897 he was granted the honorific rank of Past Grand Chaplain in recognition of his services to English Freemasonry, as part of a series of similar honorary promotions intended to mark the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria.
After two years (1906–1908) as Dean of Carlisle Ridgeway was appointed Bishop of Chichester in 1908.New Bishop Of Chichester The Times Tuesday, 17 December 1907; pg. 9; Issue 38518; col FDiocesan Registers His appointment was at the age of 66, and the result of a dispute between the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Prime Minister, who was then the key figure in the nomination process for bishops. There was disagreement over rival candidates, and Ridgeway appears to have been a compromise.Lambeth Palace Library, Davidson X. The story is also retold in High and Mitred by Bernard Palmer, SPCK, 1992, p 153-5
During World War I, Ridgeway provided support for soldiers in the large military camps in Sussex, and encouraged the recruitment of temporary chaplains.Chichester Diocesan Gazettes, September 1914 to November 1918. They were published monthly.
Ridgeway died on 28 February 1927 aged 85 in London, and was buried at Limpsfield. An obituary noted that he had " ... too much sense of humour ever to take himself heavily, and was too much a man of the world ever to lose his realism."Church Times obituary, 4.3.1927
Legacy
After his death Ridgeway's widow presented his pectoral cross to the Chichester Cathedral library,The Times, Friday, 2 October 1931; pg. 17; Issue 45943; col E Ecclesiastical News and commissioned a memorial to him which can be seen in the nave.Panel described
Family Ridgeway was twice married:
In 1866, to Susan Jane Fitzgerald, daughter of the Rev. Gerald Fitzgerald; their daughter Una Geraldine married in 1892 Ronald Montagu Burrows. In 1899, to Katherine Margaret Johnston, daughter of the Rev. Hugh William Johnston.
Notes
External links
Remembering the Laying of Bognor Church Foundation Stone on 22 July 1910