Frederick Ridgeway

In 1890 he became Vicar of St Peter's, Kensington,{{cite book | last=Malden Richard (ed) | author-link= | title= Crockford's Clerical Directory for 1920 (51st edn) | location= London | publisher= The Field Press| pages=1321| year=1920 | isbn=}} where he served until, in October 1900, he moved to become Rector of St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate{{Church Times | title = Church news | archive = 1900_10_19_418 | issue = 1969 | date = 19 October 1900 | page = 418 | accessed = 24 September 2020 }} in preparation for his appointment to the episcopate as the first suffragan Bishop of Kensington the next year.The Times, Monday, Feb 18, 1901; pg. 8; Issue 36381; col A Ecclesiastical Intelligence. Consecration of Bishops Suffragan He was consecrated a bishop on 17 February 1901, at St Margaret's, Westminster, by Frederick Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury.{{Church Times | title = Consecration of bishops suffragan | archive = 1901_02_22_218 | issue = 1987 | date = 22 February 1901 | page = 218 | accessed = 24 September 2020 }} Though initially the care of the West End remained with Alfred Barry,{{Church Times | title = The new suffragan Bishop of Kensington | archive = 1901_01_11_038 | issue = 1981 | date = 11 January 1901 | page = 38 | accessed = 24 September 2020 }} when he retired in February 1903, the Bishop of Kensington was given those responsibilities.{{Church Times | title = Church news | archive = 1903_02_06_170 | issue = 2089 | date = 6 February 1903 | page = 170 | accessed = 19 September 2020 }}

From 1911 to 1921 he was Bishop of Salisbury. He took legal possession of the See by the confirmation of his election on 17 October 1911 at St Mary-le-Bow by Alfred Cripps, Vicar-General of the Province of Canterbury.{{Church Times | title = Church news | archive = 1911_10_20_502 | issue = 2543 | date = 20 October 1911 | page = 502 | accessed = 24 September 2020 }} He was enthroned at Salisbury Cathedral in November 1911{{Church Times | title = Enthronement of the Bishop of Salisbury | archive = 1911_11_10_615 | issue = 2546 | date = 10 November 1911 | page = 615 | accessed = 24 September 2020 }} and served until his death in London on 4 May 1921.{{Church Times | title = Death of the Bishop of Salisbury | archive = 1921_05_06_434 | issue = 3041 | date = 6 May 1921 | page = 434 | accessed = 24 September 2020 }}

Ridgeway was a strong supporter of British involvement in the First World War, and his views were clearly expressed in a sermon delivered on 9 August 1914, justifying Britain's declaration of war against Germany. ‘It was on our side a just war, it was with us a righteous war, and if it was carried out in the spirit of our Christianity it was a holy war .... It was an unprovoked war. It was an unselfish war. Make no mistake about it. There never was a more unselfish war. Nothing for England to gain: terribly much for England to lose ... nothing to be ashamed of, England stepped out reluctantly but bravely and unflinchingly into the struggle. It was a war for Righteousness. It was a solemn protest against violated pledges and ruthlessly broken undertakings.’.Salisbury Diocesan Gazette, September 1914 Ridgeway encouraged clergy to volunteer as army and navy chaplains, to provide support for the tens of thousands of soldiers in camps on Salisbury Plain and to work in Sherborne Castle, Lytchett Manor and other great houses which had been transformed ‘into the most perfect and luxurious hospitals’.The Salisbury Diocesan Gazette was published monthly and has details of diocesan activities during the War

Ridgeway's handwritten letters were notorious because they were hard to decipher. He attempted to write to every family which had suffered bereavement during the War. One woman noted, ‘We have had such a beautiful letter from the Bishop, though we can’t read it’.Church Times obituary, 13.5.1921

His older brother, Charles, was Bishop of Chichester (1908-1919).

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{{s-ttl|title=Bishop of Kensington|years=1901 – 1911}}

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{{s-bef|before=John Wordsworth}}

{{s-ttl|title=Bishop of Salisbury|years=1911 – 1921}}

{{s-aft|after=St Clair Donaldson}}

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{{Bishops of Kensington}}

{{Bishops of Salisbury since 1908}}

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Category:1848 births

Category:People educated at Tonbridge School

Category:Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge

Category:Bishops of Kensington

Category:Bishops of Guildford

Category:20th-century Church of England bishops

Category:1921 deaths