William Ridford [or Reidford] was one of the first Scots emigrants to East Jersey in the 1680s. He was born around 1642 in Friershaw, near Lilliesleaf in Teviotdale, Roxburghshire. He was a Quaker, a member of the Kelso Monthly Meeting.
By 1682, tenant farmer Ridford was in negotiation with Arent Sonmans, one of the East Jersey proprietors, to emigrate to the American colonies. Under their agreement, Ridford was promised 100 acres of land in East Jersey rent-free for ten years, a significant incentive.
Ridford left Scotland from Aberdeen aboard the Exchange of Stockton on 31 August 1683. After a transatlantic crossing, he arrived in Staten Island, New York, on 19 December 1683. He and his family (his wife Margaret and their seven children) initially settled in Elizabethtown, New Jersey. On 26 September 1685, the family was granted a survey warrant for 250 acres of headland, recognising their arrival and settlement.
Ridford had joined the Kelso Monthly Meeting sometime before 1682 and was to remain a Quaker until his death.
Later records show Ridford in Freehold, Monmouth County, where he was still farming as a yeoman by 1720. He maintained his Quaker faith throughout his life, leaving a legacy to the Monmouth Meeting of Friends in his will.
William Ridford died in 1726 and was buried in the Old Scots Burying Ground in Freehold. His will, dated 27 February 1720/21, named his wife Margaret and sons-in-law Gideon Craford and James Lowrey (Lawrie) as executors, though Margaret later declined due to infirmity. His property and legacies, including his religious bequests, testify to a life of persistence, belief, and quiet influence in early East Jersey society.