Sir Joseph West Ridgeway, (16 May 1844 – 16 April 1930) was a British civil servant and colonial governor. He was known as "Sir West Ridgeway". He was involved in the sodomy and child molestation charges against Hector Archibald MacDonald, commander of British forces in Ceylon. Ridgeway ordered MacDonald's return to London, careful to prevent the huge scandal that was to be expected: "Some, in fact most of his victims ... are the sons of the most respected men in the colony, British as well as locals," he wrote, noting that he was able to convince the local press to hold still so "no more dirt comes to light".

Military career

Educated at

St Paul's School, London St Paul's School is a Selective school, selective Private schools in the United Kingdom, independent day school (with limited boarding school, boarding) for boys aged 13–18, founded in 1509 by John Colet and located on a 43-acre site by Rive ...

, Ridgeway was commissioned into the Bengal Infantry in 1860.Joseph West Ridgeway at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
/ref> In 1869 he was selected for civil employment in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. In 1881 he married Carolina Ellen "Lina" Bewicke.

Colonial service

In 1884 Ridgeway was given command of the Indian section of the

Afghan Boundary Commission The Afghan Boundary Commission (or Joint Anglo-Russian Boundary Commission) was a joint effort by the United Kingdom and the Russian Empire to determine the northern border of Afghanistan. The Boundary Commission traveled and documented the northern ...

, established by Russia and the United Kingdom to determine the northern boundary of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. The following year he became Chief Commissioner. He was

Under-Secretary for Ireland The Under-Secretary for Ireland (Permanent Under-Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland) was the permanent head (or most senior civil servant) of the British administration in Ireland prior to the establishment of the Irish Free State in 192 ...

from 1887 to 1892, and

Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man The lieutenant governor of the Isle of Man ( or ''lhiass-chiannoort vannin'') is the Lord of Mann's official personal representative in the Isle of Man. He has the power to grant royal assent and is styled "His Excellency". No Manx-born perso ...

from 1893 to 1895.Men and Women of the Time : A Dictionary of Contemporaries
by Victor Plarr, 1899, p. 912 (via Google Books) He was

Governor of Ceylon {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019 The governor of Ceylon can refer to historical vice-regal representatives of three colonial powers: Portuguese Ceylon * List of captains of Portuguese Ceylon (1518–1551) * List of captain-majors of Portugue ...

(now

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

) from 1896 to 1903. During that time, he was involved in bringing charges of

sodomy Sodomy (), also called buggery in British English, principally refers to either anal sex (but occasionally also oral sex) between people, or any Human sexual activity, sexual activity between a human and another animal (Zoophilia, bestiality). I ...

and

pederasty Pederasty or paederasty () is a sexual relationship between an adult man and an adolescent boy. It was a socially acknowledged practice in Ancient Greece and Rome and elsewhere in the world, such as Pre-Meiji Japan. In most countries today, ...

against Hector MacDonald, commander of the troops in

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. 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.Denis Judd, ''Empire: The British Imperial Experience, from 1765 to the Present'', 2001, p.171. He later unsuccessfully stood twice for election to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

, in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

and

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

constituencies.

Honours

* GCMG: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George – ''1 January 1900'' – New Year Honours list *

LL.D. A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

''(honorary)'',

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, May 1902. * LL.D ''(honorary)'',

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, 26 July 1902. A species of Asian snake, '' Lytorhynchus ridgewayi'', is named in his honour.Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). ''The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. . (''Ridgeway", p. 221).

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ridgeway, West Governors of British Ceylon Under-Secretaries for Ireland 1844 births 1930 deaths People educated at St Paul's School, London Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India Lieutenant governors of the Isle of Man Members of the Privy Council of Ireland