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West Ridgeway

Colonel The Right Honourable
Sir Joseph West Ridgeway
GCB GCMG KCSI
Joseph West Ridgeway.tiff
18th Governor of British Ceylon
In office
10 February 1896 – 19 November 1903
Monarch Queen Victoria
Edward VII
Preceded by Edward Noël Walker
acting governor
Succeeded by Sir Everard im Thurn
acting governor
11th Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man
In office
1893–1895
Monarch Victoria
Preceded by Sir Spencer Walpole
Succeeded by Lord Henniker
Personal details
Born Joseph West Ridgeway
16 May 1844
Died 16 April 1930(1930-04-16) (aged 85)
Nationality British
Spouse(s) Carolina Ellen "Lina" Bewicke
Military service
Service/branch Bengal Infantry
Years of service 1860–1869
Rank Colonel

Colonel Sir Joseph West Ridgeway, GCB, GCMG, KCSI, PC (Ire) (16 May 1844 – 16 April 1930) was a British civil servant and colonial governor.

Educated at St Paul's School, London, Ridgeway was commissioned into the Bengal Infantry in 1860. In 1869 he was selected for civil employment in India. In 1881 he married Carolina Ellen "Lina" Bewicke.

In 1884 Ridgeway was given command of the Indian section of the Afghan Boundary Commission, established by Russia and the United Kingdom to determine the northern boundary of Afghanistan. The following year he became Chief Commissioner. He was Under-Secretary for Ireland from 1887 to 1892, and Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man from 1893 to 1895.

He was Governor of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) from 1896 to 1903. During that time, he was involved in bringing charges of sodomy and pederasty against Hector MacDonald, commander of the troops in Ceylon. Ridgeway advised MacDonald to return to London, his main concern being to avoid a massive scandal: "Some, indeed most, of his victims ... are the sons of the best-known men in the Colony, English and native", he wrote, noting that he had persuaded the local press to keep quiet in hopes that "no more mud" would be stirred up.


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