RIDLEY, George (1818-1887), of 2 Charles Street, Berkeley Square, London, Mdx.

His family having represented Newcastle-upon-Tyne since 1747, George Ridley was born into one of the region’s most dominant political dynasties who owned 30,000 acres in Northumberland and valuable investments in the coal, glass and brewing industries.1HP Commons, 1820-32, vi, 962: ‘Ridley, Sir Matthew White’. Ridley’s father was Whig MP for Newcastle, 1812-36, and his eldest brother, Matthew, who had inherited the family estates and business, a Conservative MP for Northumberland North, 1859-80. After being called to the bar in June 1843, and practising on the northern circuit, Ridley, standing as a Liberal in support of free trade and parliamentary reform, unsuccessfully contested Northumberland South at a by-election in 1852.2Daily News, 1 July 1852. At the 1856 Newcastle by-election, Ridley, who by then described himself as a ‘hearty supporter of Palmerston’s government’ and championed government-led administrative reform, was returned unopposed.3Newcastle Courant, 8 Feb. 1856.

Ridley attended assiduously in his first session, missing only 23 out of 198 divisions, with his votes reflecting an earnest support for civil and religious liberties.4J.P. Gassiot, Third letter to J.A. Roebuck: with a full analysis of the divisions of the House of Commons during the last session of Parliament (1857), 14. He divided in favour of the abolition of church rates, 5 Mar. 1856, the admission of Jews into parliament, 9 Apr. 1856, the admission of dissenters into Cambridge University, 20 June 1856, and divided against the abolition of the Maynooth grant, 19 Feb. 1857. Although in his maiden speech he criticised the ministry’s local dues on shipping bill, as it would ‘disappoint the shipping interest’ and unjustly tax the property of town councils, 5Hansard, 25 Feb. 1856, vol. 140, c. 1363. Ridley generally followed Palmerston into the government lobby, and divided against Cobden’s motion of censure on Canton, 3 Mar. 1857.

Defending his seat at the 1857 general election, Ridley backed Palmerston’s handling of the Paris peace conference and, after a lively contest, was returned at the head of the poll. Remaining a diligent attender, he continued to display his reformist credentials, voting in minority divisions in favour of Locke King’s bill to equalise the county and borough franchises, 10 June 1857, and in support of the ballot, 30 June. Making regular, though short interventions on a range of issues, Ridley occasionally opposed the Liberal ministry on social policy. He criticised their industrial schools bill, believing ‘workhouse schools are the proper schools for children to be sent to’, and attacked the crowded dwellings preventions bill for being ‘against the fundamental principles of liberty in this country’.6Hansard, 17 June 1857, vol. 145, c. 1958; 17 Aug. 1857, vol. 147, c. 1767. On 18 Aug. 1857 he personally clashed with Palmerston on the latter, accusing him of smearing the motives of those who opposed the proposals.7Hansard, 18 Aug. 1857, vol. 147, cc. 1861-2. Such instances of truculence aside, Ridley stayed loyal to the premier, and divided with him on the conspiracy to murder bill, 19 Feb. 1858. Moreover, after comfortably defending his seat at the 1859 general election, he divided with Palmerston on the address, 10 June 1859, and the repeal of paper duties, 12 Mar. 1860.

With his service on select committees including the rating of mines, the billeting system, tribunals of commerce, the locomotive bill, and the piers and harbours bill,8PP 1856 (346), xvi. 3; PP 1857-58 (363), x. 2; PP 1857-8 (413), xvi. 508; PP 1859 sess. 2 (116), v. 352; PP 1860 (448), xv. 328. Ridley was an active but unremarkable parliamentarian. On being appointed as a copyhold enclosure commissioner in November 1860, he retired from the Commons, as his new role was incompatible with his seat. As a commissioner, Ridley gave evidence in 1863 to a select committee of the House of Lords on the charging of entailed estates for railways, and suggested that commissioners should have the power to determine the amount paid by landowners towards railway construction, a recommendation that was included in the subsequent report.9PP 1863 (209), vii. 118-24. Mirroring the political trajectory of his father, Ridley gravitated towards the Conservatives in his latter years, though he made no further known contributions to public life.10Newcastle Courant, 11 Nov. 1887. He died, unmarried and without children, at his home in London in November 1887. A small number of his papers are located in the Northumberland record office.11Northumb. RO, Ridley (Blagdon) MSS.