| A Ridgway Dynasty - Part 3 (by a Ridgway Family Historian) |
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The Ridgway children attended the Cranbourne National School which was situated at Clyde, and which became Common School No. 118 in 1862 under new legislation just passed. School fees were from 6d to 2/6 per week, and for the half year ending 30th June, 1869, Anthony Ridgway paid fees of £1.8.0. He was on the school committee from 1863 to 1871. In 1858, another daughter, Charlotte Sophia, was born to the family, and when Sophia was delivered of a son on the 11th February, 1860, the first born since Thomas had died in 1854, he was named Thomas. His birth was followed on the 30th August, 1862, by that of another son, Mark, and then by that of my grandfather, George, on the 4th June, 1864. Two Children Died The year 1868 proved to be fateful for Anthony and Sophia, as their son Mark died from acute inflammation of the bladder on the 30th July, shortly before his sixth birthday, and was buried at Cranbourne Cemetery on the 1st August. |
Within a few days, Sophia gave birth to another son who was named Matthew Mark, but he survived only eleven weeks, dying from congestion of the brain on the 4th October. It is interesting to note that when Sophia signed as informant at his death, she did so with ‘her mark’ whereas on the Disposal List for the Mary Shepherd, it was stated that she could read and write. Three more children were born during the next few years, a daughter, Mary Ann (1870), then another son who was also named Mark (1871), and their sixteenth child James (12th September, 1873), shortly after Sophia’s 48th birthday. By 1872, Anthony and Sophia’s eldest son William was among the pioneers at Lang Lang, where he commenced a dairy-farm and apiary on the property he had named Hazeldeane. |
 William Ridgway 1843-1922 |
 Sarah Ann Stephens 1854-1931 |
Charlotte Salter 1858-1941 |
 Thomas 'Corrie' Ridgway 1861-1948 |
 George Ridgway 1864-1904 |
 Mary Ann Stewart 1870-1922 |
 James 'Toby' Ridgway 1873-1947 |
| Pastoral Pioneers- Anthony Ridgway | 3 Ridgway Sons and Daughters |
| 1 Anthony Ridgway's journey to Clyde | 4 Ridgways and the Clyde General Store |
| 2 Anthony Ridgway settles in Clyde | 5. Ridgway Family Photos |