Robert Ridge (1840 - 1906)

Born 3 Oct 1840 in North Richmond, NSW

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Ann (Skuthorp) Ridge — married 3 Jun 1863 in Sackville Reach, Colony of New South Wales

Husband of Esther Amelia (Beeson) Booth — married 1881 in Wollombi, New South Wales, Australia

Descendants

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Biography

Robert married Mary Ann Skulthorp in Windsor in 1863.^[1]

He re-married after Mary Ann's death to Esther Beetson in Wollombi in 1881.^[2]

He died in 1906.

MR. ROBERT RIDGE, SENR. (BY P.B.M.)

The dingo yells by the far iron fells, The plover is loud in the range; But they never come near to the slumberer here Whose rest is a rest without change.

The above beautiful lines, written by the prince of Australian poets (Kendall), were recalled as I stood on Monday week last by the newly dug grave of one of the finest men it has been my good fortune to know.

Colo, where he had spent the last of his days, showed its sympathy in a practical way, for it had turned out to a man—aye, and a woman—to pay a last tribute of respect to their departed neighbour. One could look round the throng of mourners and see faces stamped with sorrow—faces to which hitherto sorrow was practically unknown—for the appalling suddenness of Mr Ridge's death had taken them unawares and the usual philosophy with which ordinary troubles are met was completely wrecked, so to speak. Indeed that scene with its sorrowing faces and weeping relatives clustered round the graveside in the sequestered nook where Colo's "God's acre" has been chosen and fenced, where the bones of some of its most illustrious citizens lie "in one red burial blent," and where the brown sides of the mountains brood gloomily overhead seeming like great natural tombstones to the memory of dear departed ones, was one the impressiveness of which it will take a long time to efface. Mr Robert Ridge, whose name will be recognised by all old-timers throughout the district as one of the good old pioneering stock, was born some 65 years ago at North Richmond, in the house recently occupied by Mr W. Merrick. A boy of considerable intelligence, signs of which he exhibited at an early age, he was sent by his father to Richmond, where he received a good solid education. His unbounded wit and love of harmless fun made him the idol of his schoolfellows, some of whom could tell interesting stories of his boyish escapades. His education finished, he removed from the Kurrajong side with his parents (he was an only son) and Mr and Mrs Laycock, senr, to Putty, and they were the first families to settle in that part of the country. Mr Ridge maintained his wit and readiness of repartee to the last, and was a capital story teller. I have listened with much interest while he recounted stories of those wild days when Putty—now a land flowing with milk and honey, then a a howling wilderness—was inhabited mostly by the blacks, and visited only at rare intervals by passing drovers. Mr Ridge, senr., became a large land holder at Putty, and dying some years later left his son, then a young man, the property which he retained till about two years ago when he sold out to Mr Norman Hall. But it was while he resided at Putty House that his fame as a hospitable and generous gentleman spread far and wide. His home was always open to the hungry and weary wayfarer, and his paddocks and stables were at the disposal of their jaded beasts of burden. The writer himself recalls many happy nights spent under his hospitable "roof tree," and this fact alone has compelled me to forward this humble testimony to his memory. For many years he prospered on the ancestral holding, but the great bush fire of about five years ago was a terrible blow for him. Miles and miles of fencing, house, sheds, cattle, poultry and horses—almost everything—were burned, and rather than spend his declining years amid the incessant worry and disappointments consequent upon restocking, re-fencing and re-building, he sold his old home and came to live on his farm at Colo, where he died on Sunday week of heart disease. Mr Ridge was reading a newspaper when the sudden seizure took him. He fell from his chair exclaiming as he did so that his horse had thrown him. He was twice married, and leaves a widow and eleven children to mourn their loss. He died as he had always wished to do, in harness, painlessly and suddenly, and as Gordon says: Thus was the life of our hero done— Constant and calm was his latest throe; The storm was weathered, the battle won, When he went, my friends, where we all must go.^[3]

COLO.

Quite a gloom has been cast over the neighbourhood by the unexpected deaths of Mr Robert Ridge and Mrs Eliza Jones, both of Upper Colo. The former died on Sunday, 16th inst., and the latter on the following Wednesday. Mr Ridge, as is well-known, had been suffering for a considerable time from a weak heart, but during the few days immediately prior to his death he seemed much better, and consequently his sudden and unexpected death was a surprise and a shock to everyone. The poor old fellow was sitting in the verandah reading a newspaper, and having come across something about horses bucking, he started reading it out, and all at once he said "my horse is starting to buck too," whereupon he fell from his chair, and when picked up he was quite dead. Poor old "Bob," as he was familiarly known, had a big host of friends, not only in Colo, but throughout the whole district, and the jolly and genial old chap will be very much missed. Sincere sympathy is felt for the bereaved family.^[4]

DEATH OF MR R. E. RIDGE

A telegram was received in Singleton yesterday by Mrs Squire, of Castlereagh-street, conveying the sad intelligence that her father, Mr R. E. Ridge, of Colo, near Putty, had died rather suddenly on Sunday at 9 a.m. Mr Ridge was an old resident of the Putty district, and was well-known among cattle dealers of the Singleton district, and was much esteemed by those who knew him.^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ 2818/1863 RIDGE ROBERT SKUTHORPMARY ANN RICHMOND
2. ↑ 6152/1881 RIDGE ROBERT BEETSON ESTHER A WOLLOMBI
3. ↑ Windsor and Richmond Gazette (NSW : 1888 - 1965), Saturday 6 October 1906, page 1
4. ↑ Windsor and Richmond Gazette (NSW : 1888 - 1965) Sat 6 Oct 1906 Page 12
5. ↑ Singleton Argus (NSW : 1880 - 1954), Tuesday 18 September 1906, page 2

Research Notes

au NSW BDM (Australian, New South Wales, Births Deaths Marriages)
Children Born to Robert Ridge matching
RIDGE LOUISA 14271/1864 ROBERT E MARY A RICHMOND
RIDGE ROBERT 16225/1866 ROBERT MARY A WINDSOR
RIDGE EMILY 15859/1868 ROBERT MARY A RICHMOND
RIDGE IDA 19379/1871 ROBERT MARY ANN WOLLOMBI
RIDGE LEO 20666/1873 ROBERT MARY ANN WOLLOMBI
RIDGE VICTOR 21755/1875 ROBERT MARY A WOLLOMBI
RIDGE OSWALD 19707/1877 ROBERT MARY ANN RICHMOND
RIDGE BEATRICE 21181/1878 ROBERT MARY ANN S RICHMOND