105-year-old Edwin is one of Northern Ireland’s oldest men

By The Newsroom
Published 12th Mar 2019, 13:50 BST
Updated 12th Mar 2019, 14:55 BST
Edwin Ridgwell.Edwin Ridgwell.
Edwin Ridgwell.
At 105-years Edwin Ridgwell is no doubt one of the oldest men in Northern Ireland.

Born in June 1913, Edwin was the first person to take up residence at Knockagh Rise Nursing Home in Greenisland - at the age of 101-years.

Previously, he lived in Blackstone Cottage, at Bryantang, on the Upper Woodburn Road and served as an elder in the Carrickfergus congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He and his older sister Constance enjoyed what he called an “Edwardian childhood”, being raised by parents Edwin and Dorothea, who were keen Bible readers.

Edwin worked his passage to Canada on a cattle boat.Edwin worked his passage to Canada on a cattle boat.
Edwin worked his passage to Canada on a cattle boat.

At the end of the war, the family moved to Glasgow where they came in contact with the “Bible Students”, later to be called Jehovah’s Witnesses.

At the age of 15, Edwin was determined to become a missionary. His father suggested he first get some skills to support himself later in life, so he worked in an office for a short time until the whole family decided to embark on preaching work in Scotland. They had many adventures cycling from town to town.

In 1931, Edwin responded to a request for volunteers to go to the Baltic States as mIssionaries. It was a “rewarding time” for him but with many challenges, not least the cold. At times he found that his breath froze on his coat collar.