 They were both ostracised by their families, moved to the poor districts of Woolwich and Camden Town and experienced hard times in spite of their upper class connections.They had the first of five children, two of whom would die young,

Having financial problems caused by a wayward brother who left for America, they planned to go to Hamburg where they could live less expensively in a Jewish community but were invited by Lady Olivia Sparrow, a wealthy landowner, to manage her schools in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex and Brampton, Cambridgeshire, But Ridley was more and more used as a preacher and pastor to the local people, He felt called to be an evangelist, which was supported by reports of amazing conversion experiences as a result of his preaching in the violent fishing village.One of the fishermen who heard him preach, Michael Tomlin, would eventually become a full-time Methodist minister in the town and a church bears his name to this day.