Joseph West Ridgeway

Sir Joseph West Ridgeway, GCB, GCMG, KCSI, PC (Ire) (16 May 1844 – 16 April 1930) was a British civil servant and colonial governor. He was known as "Sir West Ridgeway".

Colonel The Right Honourable Sir Joseph West Ridgeway GCB GCMG KCSI
18th Governor of British Ceylon
In office 10 February 1896 – 19 November 1903
Monarch	Victoria, Edward VII
Preceded by	Edward Noël Walker (Acting governor)
Succeeded by	Sir Everard im Thurn (Acting governor)
11th Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man
In office 1893–1895
Monarch	Victoria
Preceded by	Sir Spencer Walpole
Succeeded by	The Lord Henniker
Personal details
Born	Joseph West Ridgeway 16 May 1844 High Roding, Essex, England
Died	16 April 1930 (aged 85) London, England
Nationality	British
Spouse(s)	Carolina Ellen "Lina" Bewicke
Military service
Branch/service	Bengal Infantry
Years of service	1860–1869
Rank	Colonel

Military career

Educated at St Paul's School, London, Ridgeway was commissioned into the Bengal Infantry in 1860.[1] In 1869 he was selected for civil employment in India.[1] In 1881 he married Carolina Ellen "Lina" Bewicke.[1]

Colonial service

In 1884 Ridgeway was given command of the Indian section of the Afghan Boundary Commission, established by Russia and the United Kingdom to determine the northern boundary of Afghanistan.[1] The following year he became Chief Commissioner.[2] He was Under-Secretary for Ireland from 1887 to 1892, and Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man from 1893 to 1895.[3][4]

He was Governor of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) from 1896 to 1903.[3][5] During that time, he was involved in bringing charges of sodomy and pederasty against Hector MacDonald, commander of the troops in Ceylon. Ridgeway advised MacDonald to return to London, his main concern being to avoid a massive scandal: "Some, indeed most, of his victims ... are the sons of the best-known men in the Colony, English and native", he wrote, noting that he had persuaded the local press to keep quiet in hopes that "no more mud" would be stirred up.[6]

He later unsuccessfully stood twice for election to the House of Commons, in the City of London and London University constituencies.

Honours

• GCMG: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George – 1 January 1900 – New Year Honours list[7]
• LL.D. (honorary), University of Cambridge, May 1902.[8]
• LL.D (honorary), University of Edinburgh, 26 July 1902.[9]

A species of Asian snake, Lytorhynchus ridgewayi, is named in his honour.[10]

References

1. Joseph West Ridgeway at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
2. Salisbury, Robert (2020). William Simpson and the Crisis in Central Asia, 1884-5. ISBN 978-1-5272-7047-3
3. Men and Women of the Time : A Dictionary of Contemporaries by Victor Plarr, 1899, p. 912 (via Google Books)
4. Onchan Online A Tour of Onchan, Round The Edges
5. Sri Lanka
6. Denis Judd, Empire: The British Imperial Experience, from 1765 to the Present, 2001, p.171.
7. "No. 27150". The London Gazette. 2 January 1900. p. 2.
8. "University intelligence". The Times (36779). London. 28 May 1902. p. 12.
9. "The Colonial Premiers in Edinburgh". The Times (36831). London. 28 July 1902. p. 4.
10. Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. (Ridgeway", p. 221).