RIDGWAY - Lookup request marriage, death, anything!

[tristiw]

Hi.  I'm from Australia and an absolute beginner at this.

My grandmother was adopted.  We always thought her name was Heather and she was born in June.  It turns out she wasn't. 
My grandmother's original birth certificate (Australian) states her mother was:

Evelyn Ridgway.  Born Taunton, Somerset, Devon.  I've since found her Birth and ordered her birth certificate.  It was Jan-Feb-Mar 1911.

Apparently the Ridgway family came to Australia, but then returned to England after Evelyn gave birth and adopted the baby out in 1929.

I'm looking for any links at all to this family.  I'm hoping that records or living relatives will help me discover what this family was like and also perhaps trace health issues through the blood line.

I've thought of looking through passenger lists to Victoria, census, parish records, marriage records, death records etc.  But not having exact dates or the names of relatives is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

I have also tried looking for records from the Australian end.  However, there is a lot of information that isn't digitised yet and may records (e.g. census) have been destroyed due to our privacy laws.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE anything would be better than what I already have.

cheers, Tristi

[lcsnor]

When you receive that birth certificate with the parent's names you should post again and we should be able to spot their marriage & progress through the censuses in England.  This of course won't help you directly with finding living relatives but will give you some background and get you started.

There seem to be relatively few Ridgways in the Taunton area - so that's a good thing!

Good luck, Louise

[deb usa]

Hi Tristi

welcome ... you will have a fine time if you stay at Rootschat ...everyone is most generous with their time and resources.

As Louise has said ...we definitly need to wait for her birth cert before we look for her family .... try to be patient ... we all know what it's like not to know ...

Once you know ...post here and we will be on the hunt 

deb

added ... just seen you are in the US , Louise .... I am in NC

[lcsnor]

me too!

[deb usa]

Blimey WHERE ? 

[tristiw]

 
I'm sorry that I'm over-anxious.  I will post more details when I get them.  I just wondered if anyone else was researching the same name and could save me the wait.
Looking forward to your help when I know more.

[lcsnor]

I think she may be the dtr of Oliver Ridgway who's in the 1901 census for Somerset age 15 and born in Tasmania. Let me know if that's right and we'll get the details pinned down!  If it is him - fancy making that journey 3 times!

Louise (who also hates waiting for certificates!)

[tristiw]

OK.  So the registration of Evelyn's (my father's real grandmother) birth came in the mail today.  Here are all the relevant details:
Registration District:  Taunton
1911 Birth in the sub-district of North Curry in the County of Somerset

NO. 129
When & where born: 15th of December, 1910.  Tar Pits?, Bathpool, West Monkton, Taunton RO
Name:  Evelyn
Sex: Girl
Name of father:  Oliver Ridgway
Name of mother:  Ellen Ridgway formerly Parsons
Occupation of father:  market gardener
Signed: Ellen Ridgway 12th of January.

So, Louise was right in her post on the 7th of Feb! 

I also saw an Ellen Ridgway on an outbound ships passenger's list in 1914 from London to Sydney with a daughter Evelyn.  Ellen was said to be 32 years old, but now I can't find that list anywhere.

I suppose what I'm really interested in at the moment is finding out more about Oliver (as we can trace him in Australia easily - it's just the English stuff that's trickier) and finding out if the family moved back to England in the 1930's as the family legend goes.  I guess that would mean inbound passenger lists?

I'd be happy with anything really.  Cheers, and thanks in advance

[lcsnor]

OK, so in 1901
W. Monkton Somerset,

Samuel Ridgway, wid, 62, Market gardener, b. Devon, Burliscombe
Clara Vickery, neice, 35, b. Spaxton, som
Oliver Ridgway, g'son, 15, b. Hobart, Tasmania,


FreeBMD (www.freebmd.org.uk) has a partially transcribed marriage..... Oliver Ridgway is there with no bride listed with the same reference, it's a 1907 marriage, Taunton district. 

I'll have a look and see if it's obvious who Oliver's father was from previous censuses.

Can't help on ships records- not an area of expertise for me I'm afraid.

Good luck,
Louise