William Flower, 2nd Viscount Ashbrook


William Flower, 2nd Viscount Ashbrook was an Anglo-Irish peer. The only son of Henry Flower, the 1st Viscount Ashbrook and Elizabeth Tatton, daughter of Lieutenant-General William Tatton, William was born at Castle Durrow, County Kilkenny, Ireland. His father died in 1752 when he was eight years old, and his mother in 1759, before he was fifteen. He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford, where he matriculated on 29 November 1762.

Marriage to Betty (Elizabeth) Ridge

In 1763, possibly while on a fishing expedition on the River Thames William met Betty Ridge. Her father was Thomas Ridge, born in Buckland around 1712 of a family who made their living from catching fish in the Thames and selling them in Oxford. He had leased Noah's Ark Island, and was keeper of a Flash lock, and a licensed victualler.



She was seventeen and he was nineteen, too young to marry without permission, as an orphan, from his maternal uncles, who were his guardians.
On 20 March 1766 William and Betty were married at the church of St Denys in Northmoor.

Family

They lived at Shellingford Manor, and had six children who survived beyond infancy.
  1. Elizabeth
  2. William William Flower, 3rd Viscount Ashbrook
  3. Harriet
  4. Caroline
  5. Sophia
  6. Henry Jeffrey Henry Jeffrey Flower, 4th Viscount Ashbrook
In 1789 The eldest daughter, Elizabeth, married Francis Warneford of Highworth and they had two daughters who survived infancy
  1. Caroline Elizabeth - married John Longe of Spixworth Park - son of John Longe.
  2. Harriet Elizabeth - married Charles Wetherell.
The second eldest daughter, Harriet, married John Ellis Agar, second son of James Agar. Following his death she married Pryse Pryse on 20 July 1798, but died in a house fire on 14 January 1813.
The next daughter, Caroline, never married, but lived with her sister Elizabeth.
The final daughter, Sophia, died aged 20.

Death

William died in August 1780 and was buried at Shellingford Church. There is a monument to him south of the chancel in the church. He left six children under 15 and a 35 year old widow.
His widow, Elizabeth, married Reverend Doctor John Jones, curate at Shellingford church, on 20 January 1790, and she died on 22 February 1808.