The sad fate of John Gidley (1700 - 1744) of Newport, Rhode Island
The upper photo on the left is of Trinity Church, Newport where John Gidley is buried. The lower, right-hand photograph is of John Gidley House, 38 Pelham Street, Newport, which was built for him (photo taken from the Reed Digital Collections).

The following information is taken from several local histories, such as a History of the Narragansett Church, Rhode Island, and the Annals of Trinity Church, Newport 1698-1821. Full details on request.

From the Annals of Trinity Church - "John Gidley was the son of John Gidley, Judge of the Vice-Admiralty Court, who came to Newport from Exon, in Devon, and died here in 1710. John Gidley, the son, was accidentally killed in September, 1744. His first wife was Sarah Shackmaple, daughter of John Shackmaple, of New London, where he was a man of prominence. She died May 12, 1727. His second wife was ... Mary Cranston [a daughter of Col. John Cranston]. She died October 3, 1733, aged 24 years. His third wife was Elizabeth Brown, daughter of Captain John Brown. In 1742-3 the Judge of Admiralty having gone to England, John Gidley was appointed in his place till the king's will could be known."

According to Wikipedia, "Vice admiralty courts were juryless courts located in British colonies that were granted jurisdiction over local legal matters related to maritime activities, such as disputes between merchants and seamen. Judges were given 5% of confiscated cargo if they found a smuggling defendant guilty. This gave judges financial incentive to find defendants guilty."

The John Gidley, who met an accidental death in 1744, was a great nephew of Bartholomew Gidley of English Civil War fame. Bartholomew and his wife Joan had no children, and Bartholomew therefore willed his estate and coat of arms to his brother John, a London surgeon, and his heirs. This brother John Gidley, a freeman of the Barber-Surgeons' Company, died in London in about 1713, and his will mentions his son John Gidley, a fuller, the first Vice Admiralty Judge, who emigrated to Newport, Rhode Island, and died there in 1710.
His son, yet another John, the subject of this posting, was described as a prosperous and enterprising merchant. Born in about 1700, he was a rum distiller in 1726, the same year that he sold his house to a slaveship owner (Massachusetts Historical Society papers). He obviously had bad luck with brides, and I have only seen mention of one descendant, a son, yet another John Gidley, a midshipman in the British Merchant Navy, for whom I have no further details. But unluckiest of all was his death - blown up by gunpowder.
Accounts differ as to whether on September 17th 1744 John Gidley Esq. with three other men, owners of the privateer Prince Frederick, were either surveying its stores in a warehouse, or were on the wharf observing its departure, when a pistol accidentally went off and set fire to about 5 cwt. of gunpowder in several casks. The blast blew away the warehouse roof and set off yet more ammunition and muskets. John Gidley and his fellow ship-owners were all blown sky-high, and succumbed to their injuries over the next few days. John Gidley was the last to die, after eleven days had elapsed. His funeral took place on October 2nd 1744 in Trinity Church, Newport, where he had been a churchwarden. He was buried in the same grave as his first two wives, Mary Cranston and Sarah Shackmaple, and his memorial stone appears to bear a coat of arms, possibly the one awarded to Bartholomew Gidley. Gidley Street in Newport was named after him. His third wife, Elizabeth, lived on in Newport until at least 1772.