Dear Readers….
In case you’ve been wondering where I’ve been for the past few months… my Ridout book is being printed…
The book is not just a revised edition of posts from this blog; there are additional facts and figures plus a transcription of the 1642 letter written by Walter Rydowte to the Almshouse brethren when they threatened to expel him for being a Roundhead. There is also a brand new chapter which deals with armoury – this describes and illustrates the coats of arms that have been used by two Ridout families and how they lead me to a hypothesis about just where the Sherborne Ridouts originated and to whom they may well be related.
I wrote this book because the internet is rather an ethereal medium on which to place more than a decade’s research; I wanted something substantial to hold in my hand and this is it. Just in time for Christmas (quite by accident I assure you!), the book is being sold by Lulu.com and is available to folk in the UK, US and probably everywhere else too. I hope you don’t think the book is expensive – I am just covering my costs. It was never about the money 🙂
Find the book here: BOOK
Happy Christmas, to those who celebrate it
Karen
The Ridouts of Sherborne and Bath 
Karen, I just purchased my copy, and I’ve shared the information with my immediate Ridout family members, as well. Can’t wait to read it! Thank you for pulling the information together into a book for us. – Jana
Hi Jana… I’ve been just blown away by the response; within three hours I’d sold twelve copies and this morning another three! I had no idea that there would be this level of interest so thank you so much. I hope you enjoy 🙂 Cheers, Karen
Hi Karen, I have just ordered a copy of your book for my nan for Christmas (fingers crossed!) as her nan was Laura Alice Ridout, and youngest daughter of Edwin Ridout and Laura Archard/Orchard. I am sure my nan will look forward to reading this. best wishes, Paul
Hi Paul
Well I hope your mum isn’t disappointed. This book really only goes up to about 1800 and so the most recent character in it is John, our x3 gg grandfather, Edwin’s pa. The book traces (or attempts to anyway!) that line back in Sherborne. Of course, whether you know them now or not, the other people in the book are mostly also our family 🙂 Thank you for buying a copy! Cheers and Happy Christmas, Karen
The very best of luck with your book. You have done something I hope to do in the future.
Thank you… good luck with your project; I hope you get there in the end 🙂
Hi Karen
I discovered your fantastic website recently and signed up to follow your blog. I wish to purchase the book you wrote, but when I followed the link you gave: — Find the book here: BOOK — that took me to this page — http://unavailable.lulu.com/ — which said it was temporarily down for maintenance. I hope it really is temporary. Otherwise, is there another way to purchase your book?
Thank you
Jack Ridout
Hi Jack
I just had a look at the website and it is still down but I followed a link to their Facebook page and there they had published the following: “We’re having some planned Lulu site maintenance. On Saturday, September 26th Lulu.com will be offline between 00:01 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. Eastern Time in North America. We apologize for the inconvenience and ask that you plan accordingly. Thanks for your patience”. I guess they’ll be down for a bit longer but at least we know that it is intentional and not just a glitch. Sorry but I can’t help you either as I have to go through the same channel if I want a copy! 😀 Hope you think it’s worth it when/if you get through. Cheers, Karen
Hi Karen,
I am enjoying your book. My family has used the surname Ridout since about 1830, when Dr. Isaac Chase Rideout dropped the “e” out of his name. Dr. Rideout traces back to Abraham Rideout, born 1685 in Kent, England and died in Haverhill, MA, USA. Many family trees show Abraham to be the son of Nicholas Rideout, born in 1660 in Kent, England and died 31 Oct 1707 in Philadelphia, PA, USA. The trees also indicate that Nicholas was the son of Andrew Rideout, born 1598 in Sherborne, Dorset, England. That makes your book very interesting to me. Especially the pages discussing William Rydeowte and Walter Rideout. I have my DNA data from Ancestry.com. Do you have any other data on the Rideouts from the Sherborne area of Dorset, England?
Gerald Wayne Ridout
Hi Gerald…
Thank you for your kind words. I’m glad that you’re enjoying my book; one of my main reasons for writing this blog (and the book) was to reach out to distant Ridouts & Rideouts like you in the hope that one day we can all work out how our various families fit together. I think that if this work is ever completed we will find that there are probably as few as three original founding Ridouts, one group originating in Devon and the other two from Somerset or Dorset. I have heard of your branch before and, if I remember correctly, there is some confusion over ‘Isaac Chase Rideout’ and ‘Isaac Ridout’. I think a good place to start is with yDNA… I run a one name yDNA Ridout study with the US company Family Tree DNA (it is called the Rid(e)out yDNA project); FTDNA run a transfer scheme such that you can export your existing Ancestry results into our project and, if necessary, add to the number of markers that you have already tested to bring it up to the project’s 37 marker level. This would be very exciting as we might even see right away if you already belong to one of the known Ridout clan (we have about 30 project members). If you’d like to consider this option then see the information here:
https://www.familytreedna.com/landing/ydna-transfer.aspx
As for the Sherborne Ridouts, well this is my family, as you will already know; I could talk about them all day long; if you have any specific queries I will try and help you, of course. Hoping to hear from you soon…
Kind Regards, Karen
I talked with the people at familytreedna.com about exporting my data to them. They informed me that they can only handle yDNA data at this time. My DNA data has both the paternal and maternal sides of my family. They are working on a solution and hopefully it will be up and running by the end of the year. When they are ready, I will transfer my data to them. As for Dr. Isaac Chase Rid(e)out is concerned, if one looks at all of the data available, it is obvious that he dropped the “e” out of his name for some unknown reason. I will summarize some of the data I have and send it to you. It is like saying your ancestors were Rydowte and mine were Rydeowte. Some references from books printed in the UK cite that both families are the same with common ancestors. Many of the name changes occurred because of rifts in the family due to political beliefs. One of these relates to the possible fact that our ancestors sailed as privateers for the Queen and other members of the family who were lawyers or men of the cloth changed their name spelling to disassociate themselves with the privateers. More later………..
Jerry
Hi Jerry… Sorry, I hadn’t realised that you submitted a sample for an autosomal DNA; I just assumed that it was yDNA so yes, I can see why exporting the results would be meaningless, even if FTDNA could do it currently. If you decide to go that bit further and take a YDNA test, which only follows your male Ridout line and does not include matches from your mother’s side, then let me know 🙂
Thank you for the extra information; your theories sound plausible re the ‘Chase’. I know that some Ridouts and Rideouts argue that their surname spelling is ‘correct’ whereas both are interchangeable, your two families may have been one and the same, or at least have ancestors in common. I imagine that the records are a bit thin on the ground when distant English forebears first settled in the US so many years ago – it must be frustrating for genealogists!
Regards, Karen
Hello Karen: As I mentioned in my email, let the reading begin! I ordered your book and look forward to spending some time with it. Regards, Stuart
Hi Stuart… I hope the book and this website will be of further help to you. I’m excited by the prospect of working together to try and solve the mystery of your Virginian line. Regards, Karen
Karen,
I have just found this site & ordered a copy of your book from Lulu. I am tremendously excited as this represents a step forward in connecting my known Ridout ancestors with a family tale of involvement with the great fire in Blandford Forum (vide Walter Ridout, Commissioner, rather than one of the Bastards).
From BMD & census records, my Ridouts were registered in varying Tarrants, Long Crichel & Farnham. I am away to dig out my files to refresh my memory.
Hi Martha… I’m happy that you’re happy… to have found this site and the book. I hope it is of interest/use to you. I would be interested to hear more, particularly about your ‘known Ridout ancestors’! Always happy to hear from members of the ‘family’ 🙂 Please stay in touch, Karen