Stepney Folk |
Nicholas Ridley Born c.
1503 The Lordship of Ridley in the County of Northumberland dates from 1230 when it was created and first bestowed on John Ridley by King Henry III. Christopher Ridley, the Lord from 1519, was a confidante of Henry VIII and, it is reported, one of the few men whom Henry really regarded as a friend. His son, Nicholas Ridley, in 1534, while a proctor of Cambridge, signed the decree against the pope's supremacy in England. He was considered "a learned and quick-witted scholar", and was a keen advocate of education and health care, especially for the poor, instigating the foundation of several schools and hospitals, and encouraging new colleges. He was a friend of Archbishop Cranmer and in 1537 became his chaplain, in 1540 master of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, and in 1541 chaplain to Henry VIII and canon of Canterbury. Under the reign of Edward, he became bishop of Rochester in 1547 and was chosen to strengthen and establish the Reformed teaching in Cambridge and was part of the committee that drew up the first English Book of Common Prayer (1548). He was a commissioner in the examination that resulted in the deposition of bishops Stephen Gardiner and Edmund Bonner. In 1550 he succeeded Bonner as bishop of London, where he did much to improve the condition of the poor by preaching on social injustices before the king. Stow relates 'This man (Nicholas Ridley) by his deed, dated the twelfth day after Christmas in the 4th year of Edward VI (1551), gave to the king the manors ........ of Stebunheth, with all and singular messuages, lands, and tenements, to the said manors ... The said King Edward, by his letters patent, dated the 16th of April, in the said fourth year of his reign, granted to Sir Thomas Wentworth, Lord Wentworth, lord chamberlain of the king's household, for, and in consideration of his good and faithful service before done, a part of the late received gift, to wit, the lordships of Stebunheth and Hackney, with all the members and appurtenances thereto belonging, in Stebbunheth, Hackney Way, Shoreditch, Holiwell St, Whitechapell, Stratford at Bow, Poplar, North street, Limehouse, Ratcliffe, Cleve street, Brock street, Mile end, Bleten hall green (Bethnal Green), Oldford, Westheth, Kingsland, Shakelwell, Newinton street alias Hackney street, Clopton, Church st, Wel street, Humbarton, Grove street, Gunston street, alias More street, in the county of Middlesex, together with the marsh of Stebunheth,etc. The manor of Hackney was valued at sixty-one pounds nine shillings and fourpence, and the manor of Stebunheth at one hundred and forty pounds eight shillings and eleven pence, by year, to be holden in chief, by the service of the twentieth part of a knights fee'. The Stepney lands, held by the Bishops of London for at least 500 years since Dunstan's time had at last passed out of their hands. After the death of Edward VI, Ridley espoused the claim of Lady Jane Grey and was sent to the Tower and tried in 1554. With Cranmer and Hugh Latimer he took part in the Oxford disputations against a group of Catholic theologians and would not recant his Protestant faith. Eventually he was burnt at the stake before Balliol Hall, Oxford, back to back with Bishop Hugh Latimer who's famous last words were 'Be of good cheer, Master Ridley, play the man, for we shall this day light such a candle in England as, by the Grace of God, shall never be put out.' Nicholas' heir was Thomas Ridley, a cousin. Thomas became the headmaster of Eton and later the Vicar-General to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He married Margaret Boleyn, a relative of Queen Anne Boleyn, and became an advisor to King James I. Ridley Road, Dalston was named after Nicholas Ridley.
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