John Riddell (genealogist)

John Riddell (1785–1862) was a Scottish peerage lawyer and genealogist.

He was eldest son of Henry Riddell of Little Govan, and Anne, eldest daughter of John Glassford of Dougalston, by Anne, daughter of Sir John Nisbet of Dean. Educated for the law, he was called to the Scottish bar in 1807.

Riddell made genealogy and Scottish peerage law a special study. He prepared the Crawford and Montrose peerage cases for James Lindsay, 24th Earl of Crawford.

Riddell died unmarried at his house, 57 Melville Street, Edinburgh, on 8 February 1862. He was buried in the Dean Cemetery on the west side of the city.

He left a number of manuscripts which, in terms of his will, were acquired by the Advocates' and Signet Libraries, Edinburgh.

Riddell enjoyed genealogical research for its own sake, and his speciality earned him an allusion in The Lay of the Last Minstrel. His works were:

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1896). "". Dictionary of National Biography. 48. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 

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