The Bigelow Family
Research of my surname
The slogan reads: Finis Coronat Opus "The End Crowns the Work"
The coat of arms dates back to my 18th great-grandfather Sir William de Baguley (1260-1320)
In the reign of Edward II, Sir William de Baguley was made Lord of Baguley. Sir William built Baguley Hall around 1320 and was Lord of the Manor until his death.
Baguley Hall still stands outside Manchester UK.
It is listed as a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. As of this writing it is currently undergoing restoration.
An effigee of Sir William de Baguley resides at St. Mary's Church, Bowden Parish, Cheshire.
Years ago I had stumbled across the work of THe Bigelow Society (http://bigelowsociety.com/)
who have compiled a history from Sir William to many Bigelow descendants
of John BIGELOW (1617 - 1703)
& Mary WARREN (1628 - 1691) of Watertown MA.
John Bigelow, a blacksmith (and later surveyor of highways, tax
collector, and town councilman) came to Watertown MA from Wrentham,
England in 1630 on the Winthrop Fleet.
My largest problem was finding the link between their family tree and
my own. With various spellings of the surname, typographical errors in
transcription from old records, illiteracy, and census-taker
interpretations it was a difficult task. After extensive research I
found the missing links.
My lineage in shortform from Sir William:
1. Sir William de Baguley, 2. Sir William de Baguley, 3. Sir John de Baguley, 4. Richard de Baguley,5. Ralph de Baguley,6. Randall de Baguley,7. Robert de Baguley, 8. Randell de Baguley
9. John Bigelow, 10. Samuel, 11. Samuel, 12. Samuel, 13.
Solomon, 14. Ebenezer, 15. Marvin, 16. Edward, 17. Frederick, 18.
Frank, 19. Norman, 20. Robert, 21. Benjamin
Besides the Bigelow Society, the most valuable resource for my ancestory research was:
A geneology site provided free of charge courtesy of The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Contains many of the same databases that Ancestory dot com requires paid
membership to accesss.
