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1817). Mary was the granddaughter of Benjamin
Tasker (ca. 1690-1768). She was the niece of Ben-
jamin Tasker, Jr. (1720/21-1760); Rebecca Tas-
ker (1724-1822), who married Daniel Dulany, Jr.
(1722-1797). Her brothers were Samuel (1747-
1748); Benjamin Ogle (1748/49-1809). Her sisters
were Anne (1743-1747); Meliora (1750-1775),
who married James Anderson of Hertfordshire,
England. Her first cousins were Benjamin Tasker
Dulany (1752-1816); Rebecca Lowndes (1757-
1802), who married Benjamin Stoddert (ca. 1751-
1813). CHILDREN. SONS. Samuel (ca. 1765-1840),
a lawyer, who married in 1790 Mary Grafton Ad-
dison; Horatio, who married first, in 1791, Rachel
(?-1811), daughter of Robert Goldsborough (1733-
1788), and second, in 1812, Ann, daughter of
John Weems (1727-1794). DAUGHTERS: Ann (ca.
1766-1821), who married in 1785 John Gibson
(?-1819); Meliora Ogle (1780-1781). PRIVATE
CAREER. EDUCATION graduate of Oxford Uni-
versity, 1749. RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION: Anglican.
SOCIAL STATUS AND ACTIVITIES: Esq., by 1753.
Ridout served as secretary to Governor Sharpe
(1718-1790). Before his marriage, Ridout lived
with Sharpe and they maintained their close as-
sociation and friendship afterward. Sharpe's pa-
tronage was an important influence in Ridout's
political and social life in Maryland. OCCUPA-
TIONAL PROFILE: placeman/office holder, planter,
landholder; occasionally involved in mercantile
ventures. After the Revolution, Ridout hoped to
add to his income by importing goods from Eu-
rope and selling them to retail merchants. The
venture was unsuccessful for all concerned and
the accounts took ten years to settle. PUBLIC CA-
REER. LEGISLATIVE SERVICE: Upper House, 1761
(appointed before the 3rd Convention of the 1758-
1761 Assembly), 1762-1763, 1765-1766, 1768-
1770, 1771, 1773-1774. OTHER PROVINCIAL OF-
FICES: Council, 1760-1776 (appointed and qual-
ified on October 22, 1760); deputy secretary of
Maryland, 1760-1761; commissary general, 1761-
1762 (resigned); riding surveyor, Bohemia and
Sassafras, Cecil County, 1761-1768 (resigned be-
cause he could not live at his post); naval officer.
Annapolis, 1762-1777. STANDS ON PUBLIC/PRI-
VATE ISSUES: generally regarded as a Loyalist dur-
ing the Revolution, but signed the Oath of Fi-
delity prior to July 25, 1778. WEALTH DURING
LIFETIME. PERSONAL PROPERTY listed as a bach-
elor in St. Anne's Parish, Anne Arundel County,
with an estate of over £300.0.0, 1756-1763; as-
sessed value £2,457.13.0, including 34 slaves and
538 oz. plate, Anne Arundel and Washington
counties. 1783. This assessment reflects the slaves.
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plate, and livestock at "Whitehall," which Ridout
had purchased from Horatio Sharpe (1718-1790)
in 1782. When Sharpe returned to England in
1773, he left the debts due him in America and
the interest on them to Ridout. At Sharpe's death
in 1790, the debts and interest outstanding
amounted to £6,293.17.11 current money. AN-
NUAL INCOME: received the profits of surveyor
general of the Western Shore from Horatio Sharpe
(1718-1790), 1753-1760. LAND AT FIRST ELEC-
TION: none (although he held a warrant for land
later patented in Frederick County). SIGNIFICANT
CHANGES IN LAND BETWEEN FIRST ELECTION AND
DEATH: Ridout patented a 922-acre tract in Fred-
erick (later Washington) County in 1761 (which
was reduced to 829 acres by a resurvey in 1776)
and two very small tracts in Anne Arundel County
in 1762. Two years later he patented 250 acres in
Baltimore County, and bought the first of his 2
lots on Duke of Gloucester Street in Annapolis,
with the second lot being purchased in 1766. On
these lots he built a substantial brick town house
and, later, a series of three attached brick houses.
In 1768 Ridout received a patent for 5,692 acres
bordering on Tonoloway Creek and the Potomac
River in Frederick (later Washington) County.
He later resurveyed the land plus adjoining acreage
and repatented it for a net gain of 1,203 acres.
However, the tract was estimated to contain only
ca. 4,000 acres in 1783. Ridout had managed Hor-
atio Sharpe's plantation "Whitehall" from 1773,
and in 1782 he purchased it (about 650 acres)
along with 1,637 acres in Baltimore County and
1,000 acres in Washington County, which was the
bulk of Sharpe's land in Maryland. The small
Anne Arundel County tracts were sold by 1790,
and in 1791 Ridout gave the 1,637-acre tract in
Baltimore County to his daughter. During the six
years before his death he sold almost all of the
829-acre tract in Washington County in a num-
ber of transactions. He was charged with ca. 300
acres in Allegany County in 1793. WEALTH AT
DEATH. DIED: on October 6, 1797, at his house in
Annapolis; buried at "Whitehall," Anne Arundel
County. PERSONAL PROPERTY: requested that no
inventory or account be made of his estate. LAND:
probably ca. 6,500 acres in Anne Arundel, Bal-
timore, Washington, and Allegany counties, some
of which he mentioned in his will as owning with
John Ross, plus 2 lots in Annapolis and 1 lot in
Bath, Virginia (now Berkeley Springs, West Vir-
ginia).
RIGBY, JAMES (ca. 1630-1681). BORN: ca. 1630.
IMMIGRATED: ca. 1654, as an indentured servant.
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