It’s been a very, very long time since I published anything on this blog; I’ve not lost interest though – far from it. After many years of research I’m happy to announce that there is now a second book. The first volume, ‘The Ridouts of Sherborne’ traced the family from William Rydowte of Hyle (~1554-1621) to my x3 great grandfather John (1785-1855).

‘The Ridouts of Bath’ follows John as he moved, in 1807, from the rural Dorset town of Sherborne to the bustling Roman city of Bath where he married, had children and started a cabinet-making business. Sadly, over time, John lost two wives and several children, but others survived and his dynasty grew. My branch of the Ridouts are traced through to the 1950s. Latterly, cold genealogical data are embellished with photographs, anecdotes and personal memories. Of the related families, some are traced & described: the SOMERTONs were a well known family from Bristol, three generations of which had printed, published and written for newspapers of the day, most notably the Bristol Mercury.

In 16th century Widcombe, just south of the city, lived farmers Tobias and Thomas ORCHARD; their descendants eventually moved into the city centre: Joseph had a shop in the Abbey Green where he made very fashionable perukes (wigs), three of which were immortalised by the poet Christopher Anstey. Jacob Orchard, a Quaker, was a biscuit maker; his sons Abraham & Isaac Orchard were friends of John Wesley and helped the minister to bring Methodism to Bath. With the passage of time, the Orchards became ARCHARDs, one of whom, Thomas, a x3 great uncle of mine, owned a pawnbroker’s shop situated in a prominent position at 15 Bath Street; Thomas and his son were also local politicians. One branch of the Orchards married into the famous Irish Guinness family.

Other related names include BEATON and OLLIS, families who lived, worked and died in Walcot, an historically fascinating thoroughfare. It was Walcot Street in which my grandparents, Elsie Beaton and Reginald Ridout, lived with their respective parents, met and married in 1915. The family mostly survived through two world wars, during which time my grandfather moved to Kingsmead Street (and later Square) where he started a fish and chip business and where new generations were born.

These books are available from https://www.lulu.com/shop Search on my name (Karen Francis)