Rachel (Martin) Bigge (1565 - 1647)

Born 17 Jun 1565 in Lydd, Kent, England

Ancestors

Wife of John Bigge Sr. — married 14 Sep 1583 in Tenterden, Kent, England

Descendants

Died 30 Jun 1647 at age 82 in Dorchester, Suffolk, Massachusetts

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Rachel (Martin) Bigge migrated to New England during the Puritan Great Migration (1621-1640). (See The Great Migration (Series 2), by R. C. Anderson, vol. 1, p. 284) Join: Puritan Great Migration Project Discuss: pgm

Biography

Rachel Martin was the daughter of James Martin and Joan Adam.^[1][2] She was baptized on17 June 1565 in Lydd, Kent, England. She married John Bigg at Tenterden, Kent, England, and had by him eleven children. Her husband died more than 40 years before she did, and she never remarried.

She immigrated to New England in 1635 on the Elizabeth at the age of 69 years old.^[3] She was traveling with her widowed daughter Patience Foster, grandson Hopestill Foster, and the families of her nephews James Bate and Clement Bate.^[4] Her daughter Elizabeth Stowe with her family were already in New England.

She and her daughter Patience Foster were admitted to the First Church of Dorchester about 1638.^[5] On 18 March 1637/8 she was granted 4 acres of land and 4 acres of cow pasture.^[6]

Rachel (Martin) Bigge died between 17 November 1646 and 30 June 1647. She outlived all eleven of her children. Her will left bequests to a number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as well as some nephews. These include the children and grandchildren of daughter Patience Foster, the children and grandchildren of daughter Elizabeth Stowe, a grandchild by daughter Rachel Masters. The will also mentions sons-in-law John Stowe and Peter Masters.

Birth

Baptized: 17 June 1565 in Lydd, Kent, England.^[7]

Marriage and Children

Married: John Bigg (or Bigge) on 14 September 1583 at Tenterden, Kent, England.^[8][9]. He was buried on 13 August 1605 in Cranbrook, Kent, England.

Children of John Bigg and Rachel Martin:

All children baptized at Cranbrook, Kent, England.

1. Anna Bigg. Baptized on 16 August 1584. Anna was buried on 27 August 1584.
2. Smallhope Bigg. Baptized on 29 August 1585. He married Ellen ___, but had no children. In a deposition of 1611, he stated that he was a clothier, had lived in Cranbrook all his life, was age 26 (PRC 39/31,f.71). Smallhope was buried on 6 September 1638; Anna was buried on 26 December 1638. His will names many of his relatives including those in New England.
3. Patience Bigg. Baptized on 5 May 1588. She married Richard Foster of Biddenden by 1609 who died about 1630. She and her son Hopestill came to New England in 1635 with her mother. Patience died before 17 November 1646 when she was not named in her mother's will.^[10]
4. Elizabeth Bigg. Baptized on 1 November 1590. She married John Stow on 13 September 1608; they had nine children.^[11] They immigrated to New England one year before her mother. Elizabeth was buried on 21 August 1638.
5. James Bigg. Baptized on 28 January 1592/3. James was buried on 12 January 1593/4.
6. Rachel Bigg. Baptized on 20 October 1594. She married 1st Moregift Starr in 1617; he died in 1617 and she married 2nd Peter Masters, a mercer, of Tunbridge, later of Cranbrook and had four children. Rachel was buried on 16 December 1625.
7. Anna Bigg. Baptized on 30 January 1596/7. Anna was buried on 16 May 1597.
8. John Bigg. Baptized on 25 June 1598. John was buried on 18 December 1598.
9. Mary Bigg. Baptized on 18 May 1600. Mary died young. No further record.
10. John Bigg. Baptized on 19 December 1602. He married 1st by license dated 12 May 1626, Mary, dau. of Edward & Dorothy (Curtis) Maplesden; she was buried 10 Nov. 1632. He married 3rd by license dated 16 Sept. 1634 at Otham, widow Sybylla Beacon. John died about 1642/3. His only son Samuel died after 1638, but before him.
11. Thankful Bigg. Baptized on 17 February 1604/5. Thankful was buried on 14 August 1605, the day after her father.

Death

Died: Between 17 November 1646 and 30 June 1647.

Dates her will was made and proved.^[12]

Will: of Rachell Bigg of Dorchester ... widdow^[13]

Dated 17 November 1646; proved on 30 June 1647.

Summary:

- my Nephew (grandson) Hopestill Foster; his daughter Thankfull ; his daughter Patience

- unto Thankful Stowe (granddaughter); my sonn in law John Stow

- his Eldest sonn Thomas Stowe; his daughter Marie; his sonn Smauell; unto Nathaniell Stow (grandchildren)

- unto Elizabeth Stow (granddaughter) the wife of Henery Archer

- unto her daughter Rachell & to John... Isaac ... and... Theophilus their three sonnes (great grandchildren)

- unto Peter Masters my sonn in law now living in England (m. dau. Rachel)

- to his wife Katherin (unrelated 2nd wife); to his daughter Elizebeth (grandchild)

- unto James Batte (nephew) & to his sonne James

- to Clement Batte (nephew) and [to] his Daughter Rachell

- the now wife of Thomas Lyne (no relation?)

- the now wife of Will Batcheller (no relation?)

(Abstract)^[14][15]

17 November 1646 - I Rachell Bigg of Dorchester ... widdow being aged and weake.. make this my last will & Testament.. I haveing sould my house and land wherein now I dwell unto my Nephew [grandson] Hopestill Foster for L120 to be payed .... he shall paie unto Thankfull Stowe Three score pounds within half a yeare next after my decease and .... L20 which is due unto me from the said Hopestill ffoster... to be paid unto her within three months after my decease. And if the said Hopestill ffoster doe not pay the said threescore pounds.... then I give the said house and land unto her the said Thankful Stowe.... he shall give L3 unto his daughter Thankfull [Foster?] to bee layed out upon a silver Pott for her marked with R.B. and 20s to his sonne Hopestill [Foster Jr?] to buy for him thre silver spoones And also 40s to his daughter Patience to be layed out upon sixe silver spoones for her all the spoones to be marked R.B. and also I give unto him the said Hopestill ffoster a ffeather Bddd and a boulster.

And whereas my sonn in law John Stow oweth unto me one hundred and fforty pounds which he prmisseth to pay out of his house and lands in Roxbury if not otherwise as god shall inable him out of wch I give unto his Eldest sonn Thomas Stowe Thirty pounds he paying out of it 40s to be layed out uppon sixe silver spoones to be marked with R.B. of wch I give three of them to his daughter Marie & the other three to his sonn Smauell. And I give unto his Eldest sonn John a silver Cup wch I bought of his father

Itm I give unto Elizabeth Stow the wife of Henery Archer Thirty Pounds paying out of it L5 to be layed out in ffifteene spoones marked with R.B. of wch I give sixe unto her daughter Rachell & three to John & three to Isaac and three to Theophilus their three sonnes moreover I give unto Elizabeth Stow the wife of the said Henery Archer my silver Pott and my Booke of Docter Preston to be delivered unto her by mine execotor

Itm I give unto Nathaniell Stow haveing hiven him formerly a smale Tenement & land i give him now L20

Item I give unto Samuell Stow L30 All which legacies so given and bequeathed unto them shall be paid unto them by their father...wthin one yeare after my decease

Itm I give unto Peter Masters my sonn in law now living in England 20s & to his daughter Elizebeth 10s and to his wife Katherin my silke Kirtle to bepayd... by mine execotor or his assignes.

Itm I give unto mr Richard Mather 40s and to the poore in Dorchester 20s to be distributed to them by the Deacons where they see most need.

Itm I give unto mr Newman & to mr John Miller 10s apeece

Itm I give unto James Batte seino 5s & to his sonne James 5s.

Itm I give the now wife of Thomas Lyne 5s and to Clement Batte 20s and [to] his Daughter Rachell 10s And to the residue of his Children 5s apeece. Also the now wife of Will Batcheller 20s & to every of her children 5s apeece and to Thomas Batts 20s

Itm I give unto Thomas Beal, John Compton, Goodwife Turner the wife of Richard Brittanine Goodman Meade, Old Margery & to Goodwife Place to every one of them 5s.

Itm I give unto poore ____Goodwife Hill and to goodwife Patching 10s apeece these Legacies soe given and beqathed to be paied wthin one yeare after my decease

Itm some considerations Moveing me theire unto I further give unto Thankfull Stow all my household stuffe & plate ungiven and bequeathed to be unto her and her heires forever...

Residue to son in law John Stow,' he to be sole executor.

Witnessed by: Richard Peacock, Gabriel Meede. Signed by mark & seal.

Research Notes

Will of John Bigg: The will of her son John Bigg who died in Maidstone, Kent also helps clarify and prove many family relationships.^[16] These include specifying that his mother, sister Foster, and my brother Stowe were all living in New England. He also names his nephews Hopestill Foster, Thomas Stowe, John Stowe, Nathaniel Stowe, and nieces Elizabeth and Thankful Stowe.

Sources

1. ↑ Anderson. Great Migration, vol. I: A–B. (1999): pages 284-289.
2. ↑ Threlfall. Fifty Great Migration Colonists. (1990): pages 37-42]
3. ↑ Hotten. Original Lists of Persons of Quality. (1874): page 68.
4. ↑ Hotten. Original Lists of Persons of Quality. (1874): pages 48, 68.
5. ↑ Dorchester. First Church at Dorchester. (1891): page 4.
6. ↑ Dorchester. Dorchester Town Records, 2nd ed. (1883): pages 28, 30.
7. ↑ NEHGR, vol. 92 (1938): pages 397.
8. ↑ NEHGR, vol. 92 (1938): pages 397.
9. ↑ NEHGR, vol. 66. (1912): page 58.
10. ↑ Anderson. Great Migration, vol. II: C–F. (2001): pages 554-555.
11. ↑ Anderson. Great Migration, vol. VI: R–S. (2009): page 559-565.
12. ↑ NEHGR, volume 5 number 3 (1851): pages 300-301.
13. ↑ Suffolk County, MA: Probate File Papers, (AmericanAncesors.org online database). Suffolk Probate #56, will of Rachel Biggs.
14. ↑ NEHGR, vol. 5 (1851): pages 300-301.
15. ↑ Threlfall. Fifty Great Migration Colonists. (1990): page 40]
16. ↑ NEHGR, vol. 29 (1892): pages 253-260.

Source list:

• Anderson, Robert Charles. Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, volume I: A–B. (Boston: NEHGS, 1999): pages 284-289, biography of Rachel Bigg. AmericanAncestors.org link.

• Anderson, Robert Charles. Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, volume II: C–F. (Boston; NEHGS, 2001): pages 554-555, biography of Patience Foster.

• Anderson, Robert Charles. Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, volume VI: R–S. (Boston: NEHGS, 2009): page 559-565, biography of John Stow.

• Dorchester. Fourth Report of the Record Commissioners of the City of Boston: Dorchester Town Records, second edition. (Boston: Rockwell and Churchill,1883): pages 28, 30.

• Dorchester. Records of the First Church at Dorchester, in New England, 1636-1734. (Boston, 1891): page 4.

• Hotten, John Camden. The Original Lists of Persons of Quality. (London, 1874): page 68, Rachell Bigg age 6 (sic, clerical error should be age 69).

• New England Historical and Genealogical Register, volume 5 number 3 (July, 1851): pages 300-301. "Abstracts of the Earliest Wills on Record in Suffolk County, Mass.: Rachell Bigg," by E.W.N Starr.

• New England Historical and Genealogical Register, volume 29 number 3 (July 1892): pages 253-260. "Will of John Bigg," by E.W.N Starr.

• New England Historical and Genealogical Register, volume 66 number 1. (January 1912): pages 54-61. "Genealogical Research in England: Bates and Bigge Families," by Henry Edwards Scott.

• New England Historical and Genealogical Register, volume 70 number 4 (October 1916): pages 347-349. "Genealogical Research in England: Stowe," by Elizabeth French.

• New England Historical and Genealogical Register, volume 92 number 3 (July 1938): [pages 253-260]. "Notes: Bett Family," by John Insley Coddington.

• New England Historical and Genealogical Register, volume 92 number 4 (October 1938): pages 395-399. "Notes: Bigge Family," by Elizabeth French.

• New England Historical and Genealogical Register, volume 93 number 3 (July 1939): pages 296-298. "Notes: Stowe Family," by John Insley Coddington.

• Suffolk County, MA: Probate File Papers, (AmericanAncesors.org online database). Suffolk Probate #56, will of Rachel Biggs.

• Threlfall, John Brooks. Fifty Great Migration Colonists to New England & Their Origins, (Madison, WI: J.B. Threlfall, 1990): pages 37-42.

See also:

• Savage, James. A Genealogical Dictionary of the First Settlers of New England: A-C. (1860): page 177.

• Brainerd, Dwight. Ancestry of Thomas Chalmers Brainerd. (Montreal, Quebec, 1948): page 34