Wife's Occupation?

[Fide et Fortitudine]

Hi Grace, welcome to Rootschat!   
It's great that you've shed light on this family tree.  Genie does say in reply #9 "I thought [Grace's] mother's name was Mary and her father James Matthews" so the 2 marriages of James to the 2 Ridley sisters explains it. 
I am not related to this family, I was just helping; but Genie might be related. 
Regards
Fide

[youngtug]

I have seen "likeness taker and lantern man" used to describe a photographer.

[Fide et Fortitudine]

Good point, Youngtug.  French Daguerreotype photography was commercially available circa 1839, but would an English travelling woman/circus wife in 1861 have had access to the equipment/technology?  (Re:  the first post by Genie)  Possible of course. 

[youngtug]

http://www.cartedevisite.co.uk/photographers-category/biographies/frank-walton/

and;  http://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/culture/visual-art/picturing-the-family/content-section-6.3

[youngtug]

The ferrotype or tintype was a variation on the collodion positive process using black enamelled tinplate instead of glass. It became popular in the 1860s particularly with beach, fairground and street photographers who could prepare, expose and finish a picture on the black or brown tinplate in a few minutes. Specially designed cameras allowed all the chemical processes to be carried out inside the camera.

[Fide et Fortitudine]

That's interesting.  Could well be then.

There's a parallel thread with more information on this family here:
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=657254.0

[majm]

Likeness-taker  was an occupation familiar in the Antipodes too...


http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/77566877  Border Watch, 1 July 1882
 Well, in the 1880’s in the then British Colony of South Australia, one of the newspapers notes that in another of the then British Colonies, ie Victoria, that a Likeness-taker was a photographer, armed with the slide of an old telescope and then ummm …. I will let you all read about them ‘doing’ portraits and not returning them. …..
Then in another of the British Colonies (New South Wales) there was a photographer chap turning these popular ‘tin tags’  out by the dozen…. Here’s that link
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/136462627  Illawarra Mercury 4 Aug 1882

Lots of links actually via the Trove (National Library of Australia) free website... 
http://trove.nla.gov.au/


Cheers,  JM

[youngtug]

Consider also reply #17 of this thread, by Grace Matthews, that her grandfather was a travelling photographer.

[Fide et Fortitudine]

Indeed.  Also found this:
http://www.cartedevisite.co.uk/photographers-category/photographers/photographers-r/
Several Ridleys there, screen capture below.
Most of these Ridley photographers are not Londoners, according to http://www.victorianphotographers.co.uk/index.php?searchStr=Ridley&_a=viewCat&Submit=, but there's one WILLIAM Dobson Ridley in London EC (Eastern Central), which includes the borough of Tower Hamlets. (Bethnal Green, etc.)  Dates & address available for £1.20 on that paysite. 

Just wondering if that William D. Ridley might be the same William Ridley on the 1851 census, aged 20, "travelling showman's son", living with his parents and siblings in Whitechapel, Tower Hamlets - according to Genie's post on the parallel thread.