John Ridgeway

John Ridgeway (c. 1517 – 1560) of Abbots Carswell and Tor Mohun in Devon, was a Member of Parliament, twice for Dartmouth in 1539 and 1545 and twice for Exeter in 1553 and 1554.

He was the son of Michael Ridgeway of Newton Abbot, Devon, a brewer, the name of whose wife is not recorded. Vivian (1895) suggested he was the son of Stephen Ridgeway, Mayor of Exeter in 1491. An alias surname of "Peacock", in addition to that of Ridgeway, was declared in 1564 by his descendant to the heralds at the Heraldic Visitation of Devon, but this name has not been found in other surviving records.

He trained as a lawyer at the Middle Temple. In 1538, and immediately before the Dissolution of the Monasteries, he was appointed joint Chief Steward of Torre Abbey in Devon (which his son later purchased from the crown), and for Syon Monastery in Middlesex. He served as Escheator of Devon and Cornwall (1554-5) and occupied the honourable position of Recorder of Totnes in 1554. He was ordered by the crown to provide troops for the French campaign of 1544 and victuals for the war in Scotland in 1547.

He was a member of the Parliament of 1539 which passed the Act of Parliament allowing for the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and thereafter acquired various former monastic estates from the crown as follows:

• In 1540 and following the Dissolution of the Monasteries he purchased the manor of Abbots Carswell in Devon, formerly the property of Sherborne Abbey in Dorset, which he made his seat.
• Tor Mohun, which he purchased from the lords of Dunster and made his seat. His son Thomas later purchased nearby Torre Abbey from Sir Edward Seymour, Baronet

At some time before 1542 he married Elizabeth Wendford (alias Wondford), daughter of John Wendford of Newton Abbot, by whom he had one son and two daughters:

• Thomas Ridgeway (1543–1598), a Member of Parliament for Dartmouth in 1584 and father of Thomas Ridgeway, 1st Earl of Londonderry (c. 1565 – 1631).
• Anne Ridgeway, wife of Robert Prideaux (died 1579) of Ashburton, Attorney at Law and younger brother of John Prideaux (1520–1558) of Nutwell, Devon, Serjeant at Law, MP for Plymouth and Devon.
• Margaret Ridgeway, wife of Hugh Yeoworthe of Devon.

He died at his seat of Tor Mohun on 24 April 1560 and was buried in St Saviour's Church, Tor Mohun.