RIDLEY, Thomas

Ridley’s origins are obscure, but he entered the freedom of York by redemption in 1424.3 Freemen of York (Surtees Soc. xcvi), 134. He soon established himself in the city’s merchant community and by 1430-1 was shipping cloth from the port of Kingston-upon-Hull.4 E122/61/32. He soon joined the ranks of York’s administrative elite. In February 1432 he was elected one of the city’s chamberlains, and two years later, in September 1434, he was named as one of the sheriffs. As was common, on completion of his shrieval year Ridley joined the ranks of the council of 24, and before long (and by December 1436, when the council met to discuss the dismissal of an alderman for disrespectful behaviour towards the mayor, Richard Warter*) he was raised to the more select council of 12. It was in this capacity that, in the same month, he witnessed his first parliamentary election. Ridley’s rise to prominence was remarkably rapid, and little over two years later, in February 1439, he was himself elected mayor of York. His mayoral year passed without incident, although it may have proved costly: in 1442-3 he was still owed £6 4s. 2½d. for expenses incurred during that time.5 York City Chamberlains’ Acct. Rolls, 27.

Ridley was now a highly respected member of the mercantile elite and as such much in demand as an arbiter or a mainpernor, by even important York citizens like Nicholas Blackburn*,6 CCR, 1429-35, p. 347; York Memoranda Bk. iii (Surtees Soc. clxxxvi), 104, 118. and it was in recognition of this standing that in January 1442 he was elected, alongside the draper William Girlington*, to attend the Parliament summoned to Westminster. Both men later received wages at the customary rate of 4s. per day for 50 days’ service, rather less than the 62 days’ duration of the single parliamentary session, and it is thus possible that they had been absent for part of it. Nevertheless, the two MPs were also charged with carrying out other business on the city’s behalf while they were at Westminster. Their main concern appears to have been negotiating for an inspeximus of the city’s charter, for they received a further 30s. for their efforts in writing and presenting various bills concerning it, in close co-operation with the city’s retained legal counsel. Their efforts were successful, and on 24 Apr. the city of York received a confirmation of its liberties.7 York Memoranda Bk. iii. 130; York City Chamberlains’ Acct. Rolls, 25; CChR, vi. 30-31.

Nor did Ridley’s return to the north following the dissolution mark an end to his public activities. On 27 Mar., the last day of the parliamentary session, he was appointed to a commission of sewers in York and its suburbs, an appointment that was renewed two months later. It is possible that Ridley and Girlington themselves sued out this commission which was almost certainly designed to bring the Crown’s attention to the problem of the abbot of St. Mary’s fishgarths then obstructing the river Ouse. In subsequent months, Ridley was to spend much time in the capital. In January 1444 he was sent to petition the King’s council regarding the offensive fishgarths, and he and the mayor of York, John Shirwood, spent 24 days there in January and February, Ridley receiving £7 2s., as well as robes, for his trouble. In September he again set out for London, this time receiving £8 17s. for 30 days’ service. On this occasion he was accompanied by four servants and appears to have spent most of his time and money in London and at the royal palace at Sheen lobbying various lawyers and John, Viscount Beaumont, then one of the King’s most influential councillors. Ridley was able to procure two letters, written by Beaumont’s secretary and presumably endorsed by the King, appointing Beaumont and John Portington, j.KB, as arbiters in the dispute.

Even this was not the end of the matter, nor of Ridley’s travels. In May 1445 he returned to London, this time accompanied by the mayor, Thomas Crathorne*, for the justices’ decision on the disputed fishgarths. Ridley spent 50 days engaged on the city’s business, only returning to York in July, and receiving a further £8 14s. 10½d. in wages. While in the capital, Ridley and his three servants may also have attended the coronation of Queen Margaret in Westminster abbey on 30 May, and they certainly appeared in King’s bench personally to hear judgement delivered in their favour. This had been secured at a price: as well as his living costs, Ridley received payment for over £36-worth of gifts made to leading lawyers, judges, councillors and Household servants.8 York City Chamberlains’ Acct. Rolls, 37-58. Ridley continued to play an active part in local government until his death. He was present at the city’s parliamentary elections in 1447 and twice in 1449, and set his seal to the sheriffs’ indenture. In July 1448 he was appointed to the commission to investigate allegations of treasonable words uttered by John Marton.

By contrast with Ridley’s well-documented public service, scant evidence survives of his personal affairs, and none at all of his continued involvement in overseas trade. Of dealings in property in the city, it is known that as early as 1428 he was renting a ditch and hayfield outside the city walls from the masters of Ouse Bridge, as well as a plot of land in North Street (where he lived). He continued to pay an annual rent of 7s. 4d. for the two properties until his death.9 York Bridgemasters’ Accts. ed. Stell (York Arch. Trust, 2003), 136, 139, 284. The full extent of his wealth is impossible to gauge, as he, curiously, did not appear in the city’s subsidy assessments in either 1435 or 1450.10 E179/217/42, 56.

The identity of Ridley’s wife is uncertain. According to one source, he married Eustacia, the widow of Richard Fairfax. Fairfax, a member of a gentry family from nearby Walton, had established himself in York by 1429, when he joined the city’s prestigious guild of Corpus Christi, but was dead two years later. If Ridley did indeed marry Eustacia, she had probably died before 1441 when he himself joined the guild.11 Reg. Guild Corpus Christi, York, 29, 41. Ridley died intestate, and apparently childless, in 1456. The administration of his estate was granted to Thomas Howsem, rector of All Saints, North Street, in June of that year.12 Borthwick Inst., Univ. of York, York registry wills, prob. reg. 2, f. 334.