---
title: "Nicholas Ridgely | KnowJudges"
canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/nicholas-ridgely-delaware"
page_type: "judge_profile"
updated: "2026-08-26"
---

# Nicholas Ridgely

Delaware Court of Chancery · Judicial Officer (past members list)

## Profile

- Court: Delaware Court of Chancery
- State: Delaware
- Role: Judicial Officer (past members list)
- Service status: former
- Last verified: 2026-08-26

## Summary

Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge.

## Before you appear

- Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed.
- Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance.
- Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding.

## Courtroom Rules

### courthouse photography recording

Scope: statewide

Delaware Judicial Branch operating procedures generally restrict courthouse photography and audio or video recording, subject to limited exceptions.

Evidence excerpt: With limited exceptions, visitors will not be allowed to take photos or record audio or video in the courthouse.

[Operating Procedures for the Delaware Judicial Branch: Facilities](https://courts.delaware.gov/aoc/operating-procedures/op-facilities.aspx)
Source checked: 2026-07-30

### courtroom technology coordination

Scope: statewide

Delaware courts publish courtroom technology capabilities, but counsel should direct equipment and setup requests to the applicable court before the proceeding.

Evidence excerpt: If you wish to use any of the technology listed below, please make your request to the appropriate Court prior to trial.

[Courtroom Technology](https://courts.delaware.gov/aoc/courtroomtechnology.aspx)
Source checked: 2026-07-30


## Sources

- [Official profile](https://courts.delaware.gov/chancery/judges.aspx)
- [Official roster](https://courts.delaware.gov/chancery/judges.aspx)
- [Delaware Courts official judicial roster](https://courts.delaware.gov/chancery/judges.aspx)
- [Operating Procedures for the Delaware Judicial Branch: Facilities](https://courts.delaware.gov/aoc/operating-procedures/op-facilities.aspx)
- [Courtroom Technology](https://courts.delaware.gov/aoc/courtroomtechnology.aspx)

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## Biography

### Professional career

- Nicholas Ridgely (1762 – 1830) was a prominent Delaware jurist, lawyer, and politician who held the role of Attorney General and the second Chancellor of Delaware, shaping the state’s chancery law and judicial system

### Education


### Additional information

- Ridgely was a member of the Electoral College in 1820, voting for James Monroe.
- Advocated for the orphans court jurisdiction to be transferred to the Chancellor in 1802, making him sole judge of that court
- He was also a leading member of the Delaware State Constitutional Convention of 1791–92 and a delegate to the convention that ratified the U.S. Constitution in 1787
- He studied law under Judge Robert Goldsborough at Cambridge, Maryland, and was admitted to the Delaware bar in 1787
- John Charles Greensburg Ridgely and Mary Wynkoop Ridgeley.
- Nicholas Ridgely is remembered as a foundational figure in Delaware’s judicial history, whose legal reforms and administrative leadership shaped the state’s chancery system for generations.
- He was also an extensive landowner and a respected figure in Delaware’s political and legal life
- His work remains part of Delaware’s legal heritage, and he is honored in state historical records and markers