was the Ridley Court Estate, nearly all of which lay within the Ridley Parish.
   A Poll Book, printed following the Parliamentary election of 1734 shews that Ridley Parish then had only three entitled to vote viz. John Lambe of the Parsonage, William Danson of Ridley and William Squire Eq. of Northfleet. One is tempted to guess that William Danson was at that time the occupier of Ridley Court, whereas William Squire was perhaps the absentee landlord of the 175 acres of the Idley Court property which lay within the Ridley Parish.
   The only act of William Glanville Evelyn that can be traced is his presentation of the living of Ridley to the Rev. J Ward Allen (who was also the Vicar of Seal) in 1772. In 1793, William Evelyn sold all that he had bought 14 years previously to Multon Lambarde for £8,500, and from the year 1800 we have the Court Rolls of the Manor of Ridley to help us bring life to the ghosts of the 19th century.
   The first Court Baron recorded with a Lambarde as lord was held in 1800. The accustomed place of meeting was Ridley Court, but those of later years (at least since 1866) state that the Court then adjourned to the White Swan in Ash. Unfortunately for the records, by the time the Lambardes acquired the manor of the whole of the Ridley Court Estate appears to have been enfranchised (probably by the Sedleys) and so the lands subject to the Manor Court were limited to the Idley Fields and various enclosures around New Street that had always been held by owners other than the Sedleys.

The Idley Court Lands. 
One Jeffrey Hetherington appears to have owned them in the early 18th century, from whom they passed to the Rev. William Hetherington. They were then acquired by Thomas Coventry who died about 1799, to be succeeded by his son, the Hon. T.W. Coventry who passed away in 1815, and was succeeded by his son Thomas. In the Poll Book for 1802 the only registered voter in Ridley was James Winson, whose well preserved tombstone lies to the West of the Church Tower, where he is described as of Idleigh Court. John Winson of Farningham left by will in 1829 the sum of £100 in Trust to provide £3 per annum to be devoted firstly toward maintaining the tombstones in the churchyard.

   But in 1816 Mordecai Andrus was tilling the Idley Court lands in Ridley and that name of Andrus persisted for 80 years. The ownership of Idley Court lands passed to Ann Allen (the daughter of the late Rector) in 1824, who married John Swaisland, which name is in the Poll Book of 1847 with the address of Idley Farm. They sold Idley to Francis Andrus in 1852, and he was succeeded in 1867 by Maria Andrus of Scadbury Farm (the old home of the Sedleys) in Southfleet. She died very soon after, and it then passed to T.A. Andrus who is called Captain Andrus in Kelly’s Directory for 1878, wherein his name is bracketed with Multon Lambarde as being the principal landowners in Ridley. He held it until 1890, when it was put up for auction and acquired by Martha Stoneham of Erith, whose descendants are still in the neighbourhood. The particulars of sale by Messrs Cobb in 1890 show a solid block of land on 172 acres in Ridley Parish containing such names Idley Field, Sheeplands, the Bowmans, Lows Croft and Aylands, whilst two separate lots were Painings and Barn Croft.

New Street Lands. 
Amongst the personal names here during the 19th century are those of Bishop and Thorpe. In the Poll Book of 1838 they were the only two voters in Ridley Parish whilst in that of 1847 there are added Thomas Phelps of the Parsonage and Michael Fletcher of Ridley Court. In 1857 Richard Thorpe (who had meanwhile moved to Darenth) and Michael Fletcher (who had moved to Hammersmith) drop out, and the Rev.T.P. Phelps, junior, of the Parsonage, and Fred Ray of Ridley Court vote with William Bishop of New Street. In 1865 William Bishop and Thomas Loft, both of New Street, are alone with Parson Phelps and Martin Ray of Ridley Court. The family of Ray lived in Horton Kirby, and in Bagshawe's Directory of 1847 Mr Ray is stated to be farming most of the land in Ridley, the other farmers then being Richard Bishop and Richard Bennett. In 1878 Thomas Loft was a fair sized farmer.

Ridley Court Lands. 
Ridley Court has its ghost – a shepherd whose master brutally killed his dog.