Maria Riddell (née Woodley)

Writer, with an entry in the ODNB as 'poet'. Daughter of William Woodley MP (q.v.). Her husband was Walter Riddell (q.v.).

1. 'On 16 September 1790, on St Kitts, Maria [Woodley] married a widower, Walter Riddell (1764–1802), lieutenant (on half pay), plantation owner on Antigua and the second son of Walter Riddell of Newhouse, a well-connected Dumfriesshire merchant, whose other son, Robert, of Glenriddell, was a noted antiquary and friend of Burns. They returned to Scotland, where Walter bought an estate near Dumfries. Renamed Woodley Park, it became the scene of many fashionable and literary gatherings. Two daughters, Anna Maria (1791–1859) and Sophia (1792–1797), were born before Walter departed in 1796 for Antigua, where he died.'

1. Weinglass, D. H. 2004 "Riddell [née Woodley], Maria (1772–1808), poet." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 5 Jul. 2019. https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-37895.