Sir William Benjamin Ridsdale

1890 - 1957  (67 years)

• Name	William Benjamin Ridsdale
  Prefix	Sir
  Birth Registration	Between 1 Apr 1890 and 30 Jun 1890	Gloucester Registration District, Gloucestershire, England
  	Vol. 6a, p. 292
  	William Benjamin Ridsdale, mother maiden name Ford, was born.
  Born	14 Apr 1890	Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England
  Gender	Male
  1911 England Census	1911	Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England
  	District 10, Gloucester Northern - Gloucester Wynberg, Park Rd., Gloucester Arthur Samuel Ridsdale     Head  58   Married  35  5  5  --   Corn Merchants Manager  Wynberg Cape Colony (Resident)  Brit Subject by Parentage Laura Kate          "               Wife  55   Married  35                                                           Gloucester William Benjamin   "              Son   20   Single                        Journalist                                " Beatrice Alice Smith       Servant  22   Single                        Housemaid & General             "
  1939 UK Register	1939	Beckenham, Kent, England
  	1 Kelsey Way , Beckenham M.B., Kent, England William Ridsdale                  14 Apr 1890      Male      Press Officer Foreign Office      Married Ethel M Ridsdale                  23 Mar 1890      Female      Unpaid Domestic Duties            Married Margaret R C Ridsdale (Alexander)      23 Jan 1919      Female      Student                        Single
  Honors	1 Jan 1954	London, Middlesex, England
  	K.C.M.G.
  Newspaper Article	20 Jan 1954	Birmingham, Warwickshire, England
  	Birmingham Daily POst
  	A SPOKESMAN RETIRES Exceptional and congeniel honours are being paid to Mr. William Ridsdale, the recently retired head of the Foreign Office News Department, who was created a K.C.M.G. in the New Year Honours.To-day Bristish diplomatic correspondents, many of whom have worked with his for twenty years or so, gave him a gold wristlet watch with many kindly things said on their behalf by Mr. W. N. Ewer. Yesterday the Association of American Correspondents in London, joined by former members from the United States, Paris and elsewhere, lunched with him and made him a life-member. In 35 years only a half dozen others have been so distinguished. Mr. Anthony Eden, Mr. Selwyn Lloyd, Sir Ivone Kirkpatrick and others from the Foreign Office were there, so was Mr. Walton Butterworth. Possibly one the the functions the "Rids" will best remember from this week or two (when, as a friend put it, he is "eating and drinking himself out of office.") will be a private luncheon party that took place the other day. The table on that occasion was punningly decorated with leeks, the main dish was canard á la Ridsdale with petits pois aux démarches, and the wines included one described as a Chateau tour d'horizon.
  Death Registration	Between 1 Oct 1957 and 31 Dec 1957	Bromley Registration District, Kent, England
  	Vol. 5b, p. 118
  	William B Ridsdale, age 67, died.
  Died	24 Nov 1957	Beckenham, Kent, England
  Obituary	25 Nov 1957	Chester, Delaware County, Pennsylvania
  	Chester Times
  	Ridsdale, Bristish Newsman, Dies BECKENHAM, England (AP) -- Sir William Ridsdale, head of the British Foreign Office's news department from 1941 to 1953, died last night. He was 67. Ridsdale claimed that in 1914 he was the youngest war correspondent in France, later serving in the infantry. He joined the Foreign Office in 1919, as its first professional journalist. As a Foreign Office briefing officer and as the pricipal press spokesman for Britain's foreign ministers at the Paris peace conference in 1945 and at other in was known to a wide segment of the Western press in London, Paris, Washington and Rome.
  Obituary	26 Nov 1957	Birmingham, Warwickshire, England
  	Birmingham Daily Post
  	Sir William Ridsdale Sir William Ridsdale, head of the Foreign Office new department from 1941 to 1953, died on Sunday night at his home in Kelsey Way, Beckenham, He was 67. A war correspondent with the Daily News in 1914, he joined the infantry in 1915 and the Foreign Office in 1919. He was with the Foreign Office new department from its inception in the 1930s and was its first professional journalist. He was knighted in 1954.
  Person ID	I2226	Ridsdale Families
  Last Modified	20 Apr 2018

  
  

  Father	Arthur Samuel Ridsdale,   b. 29 Mar 1853, Wynberg, Cape of Good Hope, Cape Province, South Africa ,   d. 20 Mar 1917, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England  (Age 63 years)
  Mother	Laura Kate Ford,   b. Between 1 Apr 1855 and 30 Jun 1855, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England ,   d. 13 May 1938, Gloucester Rural Registration District, Gloucestershire, England  (Age ~ 83 years)
  Marriage Registration	Between 1 Apr 1875 and 30 Jun 1875	Walsall Registration District, Staffordshire, England
  	Vol. 6b., p. 906
  	According to the marriage certificate, the marriage was solemnized at the Wesleyan Chapel, Ableycle Street, Walsall in the district of Walsall in the County of Stafford. The marriage of Arthur Samuel Ridsdale and Laura Kate Ford took place on 1 June 1875 at the Wesley Chapel according to the rites and ceremonies of the Wesleyan by license by Benjamin Ridsdale in the presence of Lanford Ridsdale and Jane M Ridsdale. David A. Swift, Registrar. Arthur Samuel Ridsdale was age 22, Bachelor, a Corn Merchants Clerk living at Howard St., Gloucester. His father was Benjamin Ridsdale, Wesleyan Minister. Laura Kate Ford was age 20 years, Spinster, not employed, living at 127 Lichfield St., Walsall. Her father was William Ford, Manager at The Spa, Gloucester.
  		Arthur Samuel Ridsdale - Laura Kate Ford Marriage Record Walsall, Staffordshire, England
  Married	1 Jun 1875	Walsall, Staffordshire, England
  	The marriage of Arthur Samuel Ridsdale and Laura Kate Ford was registered at Walsall district, Vol. 6b., p. 906, in the June quarter 1875. According to the marriage certificate, the marriage was solemnized at the Wesleyan Chapel, Ableycle Street, Walsall in the district of Walsall in the County of Stafford. The marriage of Arthur Samuel Ridsdale and Laura Kate Ford took place on 1 June 1875 at the Wesley Chapel according to the rites and ceremonies of the Wesleyan by license by Benjamin Ridsdale in the presence of Lanford Ridsdale and Jane M Ridsdale. David A. Swift, Registrar. Arthur Samuel Ridsdale was age 22, Bachelor, a Corn Merchants Clerk living at Howard St., Gloucester. His father was Benjamin Ridsdale, Wesleyan Minister. Laura Kate Ford was age 20 years, Spinster, not employed, living at 127 Lichfield St., Walsall. Her father was William Ford, Manager at The Spa, Gloucester.
  Family ID	F575	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Ethel Margaret Cullis,   b. 23 Mar 1885, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England ,   d. 11 Jan 1960, Eastbourne, Sussex, England  (Age 74 years)
  Married	Between 1 Jul 1914 and 30 Sep 1914	Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England
  Marriage Registration	Between 1 Jul 1914 and 30 Sep 1914	Gloucester Registration District, Gloucestershire, England
  	Vol. 6a, p. 770
  	William B Ridsdale and Ethel M Cullis were married.
  Children	1. Margaret R. C. Ridsdale,   b. 23 Jan 1919, Pancras Registration District, Middlesex, England ,   d. Unknown
  Last Modified	7 Jun 2013
  Family ID	F583	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map

  Birth Registration - Vol. 6a, p. 292 - Between 1 Apr 1890 and 30 Jun 1890 - Gloucester Registration District, Gloucestershire, England Born - 14 Apr 1890 - Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England 1911 England Census - 1911 - Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England Married - Between 1 Jul 1914 and 30 Sep 1914 - Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England Marriage Registration - Vol. 6a, p. 770 - Between 1 Jul 1914 and 30 Sep 1914 - Gloucester Registration District, Gloucestershire, England 1939 UK Register - 1939 - Beckenham, Kent, England Honors - K.C.M.G. - 1 Jan 1954 - London, Middlesex, England Newspaper Article - Birmingham Daily POst - 20 Jan 1954 - Birmingham, Warwickshire, England Death Registration - Vol. 5b, p. 118 - Between 1 Oct 1957 and 31 Dec 1957 - Bromley Registration District, Kent, England Died - 24 Nov 1957 - Beckenham, Kent, England Obituary - Chester Times - 25 Nov 1957 - Chester, Delaware County, Pennsylvania Obituary - Birmingham Daily Post - 26 Nov 1957 - Birmingham, Warwickshire, England  = Link to Google Earth