Honorable Robert Ridgely of St. Inigoe's Creek
- Marriage (1): Martha Darnall
- Died: 1681, St. Mary's Co., Maryland, (United States)
Research Notes:
From Side-Lights on Maryland History with Sketches of Early Maryland Families by Hester Dorsey Richard, Baltimore, Maryland, 1918, vol. 2, pp. 211-212:
"Robert Ridgely came to Maryland in the ship Assurance in the year 1634.
"Just what relation he was to Colonel Henry and William Ridgely, two contemporaries in Colonial days, has never yet been determined. All were men of standing and have left many descendants in the representative families of Maryland. Robert Ridgely settled at St. Mary's and became an important and distinguished member of the Colonial Government. He filled with ability the offices of Clerk of the Provincial Court, Chief Clerk to the Secretary of the Province, Register and Examiner of the High Court of Chancery. In the year 1671 Charles Calvert, third Lord Baltimore, appointed Robert Ridgely Deputy Secretary of Maryland. He died in the year 1681. This first Robert Ridgely was known as Robert Ridgely of St. Inegoes, from the location of his estate on the creek of that name.
"The identity of his wife, Martha, has never been determined. She was evidently a very charming dame, as she married three men of ability in the colony.
"In his will Robert Ridgely directs that his sons be educated according to the canons of the Church of England. Of the tract of land willed to his eldest son, Robert, he says, 'at present in the possession of the Duke of York. I doubt not in short time will be in patent of Lord Baltimore.' This referred to lands then in the boundary dispute.
"To his second son, Charles, he left the Gentleman's Gift and Timberly, at the head of the Patuxent River, in Calvert County. This land after the erection of Prince George's County was on that side of the division. He lived in Baltimore County at the time of his death, in 1705."
Noted events in his life were:
• Came to Maryland: in the ship Assurance, 1634.
• Appointed: Deputy Secretary of Maryland, 1671. by Charles Calvert, third Lord Baltimore
Robert married Martha Darnall, daughter of Col. Henry Darnall Sr. and Eleanor Hatton. (Martha Darnall was born in 1678 and died in 1742.)
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