John Ridley (inventor) - Return To England

Return To England

Although Ridley's returns from the harvesting machine were substantial, they were meagre compared with the dividends from his original shares in the Burra copper-mine, his flour-mill and his land investments. He was in comfortable circumstances, and in 1853 he and his family left Australia for a lengthy journey through Europe. After several years they eventually settled in England where he devoted "his eccentric enthusiasm to invention and religion". At his own cost he had printed tens of thousands of copies of sermons and tracts that appealed to his principles and distributed them widely to grateful and ungrateful recipients. He was also an energetic lay preacher and made many gifts to evangelical churches and missions.

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