Captain Charles Ridgely III (1733–1790) was a colonial Maryland planter and ironmonger.

Biography

Ridgely was born in Maryland Province in 1733 to Colonel Charles Ridgely II (1702-1772), ("Charles the Merchant") and Rachel Howard. With his father and brother, he established the Northampton Iron Works just north of future Towsontown /Towson, under what is now

Loch Raven Reservoir The Loch Raven Reservoir is a reservoir that provides drinking water for the City of Baltimore and most of Baltimore County, Maryland, Baltimore County, Maryland. It is fed by the Gunpowder River, Big Gunpowder Falls river, and has a capacity of ...

. He married Rebecca Dorsey, the daughter of Caleb Dorsey, an ironmonger in Anne Arundel County. Caleb was a grandson of Hon. John Dorsey. Ridgely built the massive Hampton Mansion (now a National Historic Site), after the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, between 1783 and 1790. By the time it was completed, the Georgian-style structure was the largest private home in the country. The Mansion is now preserved as the Hampton National Historic Site and cared for / operated by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Capt. Ridgely died in 1790, and left the inheritance to his nephew Charles Carnan if he would assume the family name and carry on the Ridgely title. So Charles Carnan Ridgely, became the second master of the Hampton estate and eventually Governor of Maryland.

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''Captain Charles Ridgely''
(1767) by John Hesselius
''Rebecca Dorsey Ridgely''
(1767) by John Hesselius People from Baltimore County, Maryland 1790 deaths 1733 births American ironmasters Ridgely family {{US-business-bio-1730s-stub