George "Geordie" Ridley
George "Geordie" Ridley (1835 – 1864) was a Tyneside concert hall songwriter and performer in the middle of the 19th century. His most famous song is "Blaydon Races". He was a contemporary of Edward Corvan. He has been described by a council source as a candidate for Tyneside's most famous songwriter. Early life George Ridley was possibly the best known of all the Tyneside performers /composers from that era. He was born in Gateshead on 10 February 1835, to Matthew Ridley (b 28 Sep 1807) and Frances Stephenson. He was sent to Oakwellgate Colliery as trapper-boy at around the age of around eight years, but soon moved on to The Goose Pit (The Gyuess), where he worked for 10 years before moving on. His next job was with the heavy Engineering firm of Messrs Hawks, Crawshay and Co as waggon-rider where he stayed for three years. Whilst working here he was involved in a serious accident involving a wagon which went out of control and crushed him. This left him with a severe injury, which resulted in his being unfit for regular (heavy or manual) work. Later life At this point he turned to performing as a means of support.