George Ridley (Whig politician)

George Ridley (1818 – 4 November 1887)[1] was a British Liberal and Whig politician.

[2][3] The son of former Newcastle-upon-Tyne Whig MP Matthew Ridley and Laura née Hawkins, Ridley followed his father into politics, also as a Whig MP.

[4] After unsuccessfully contesting South Northumberland in 1852,[5] he was elected for his father's former seat at a by-election in 1856—caused by the resignation of John Blackett due to ill health[6]—and, becoming a Liberal in 1859, held the seat until 1860, when he resigned after being appointed a Copyhold, Inclosure and Tithe Commissioner.

[7]

Programme for an 1859 ' Birth of Burns ' event, held at Newcastle-upon-Tyne , England, at which Ridley is listed as proposing a toast to "The Mining and Manufacturing Interests of the Tyne" ( transcription )