Francis was born before 1820. He was the son of Thomas Bigge and Charlotte Scott.[1]
He was educated at the Royal Naval College, Portsmouth. In 1835 he was appointed as a midshipmen on the Barham (a 50-gun frigate) in 1835, and served a commission in her in the Mediterranean for some four years.
In 1839 he left the Navy, and travelled to Australia, to join his brother Frederick William Bigge, who had settled in New South Wales. Together, the two attempted pioneering in the Moreton Bay district. They travelled overland to the Moreton Bay area in about 1842, where they "squatted" in the Mount Brisbane district, their headquarters being known as "Bigge's Camp". They were nicknamed "Big Bigge" (Frederick) and "Little Bigge" (Francis).
From September 1851 to December 1852, Francis was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Council representing the Pastoral Districts of Moreton, Wide Bay, Burnett and Maranoa (areas that would later become part of the Colony of Queensland).[2] About 1852, he had Cleveland House built for him in Cleveland; it may have been intended as a hotel, but was unoccupied for many years and became known as Bigge's Folly. However, later it became the Brighton Hotel and is now the heritage-listed Grand View Hotel.[3][4]
In November 1853, Francis returned to England, expecting to be away for two to three years. While in England, he pressed for separation of Queensland from New South Wales and also married - to Elizabeth Barbara Ord in 1857.[5]
The newly married couple returned to Moreton Bay in June 1858. Francis was appointed a Member of the first Queensland Legislative Council in 1860 - a post which he held until 1873.[6] During this time, Bigge's Camp became the terminus of Queensland's first railway line, which Governor George Bowen renamed Grandchester.
In 1873, Francis Bigge returned to England to settle in Cockington, Devon. He passed away in 1915, at the age of 96. He was thought to be the oldest officer of the Royal Navy. Apart from some small bequests, his estate valued at £133,795 was shared between his cousin Lord Strathfordham and another cousin Harry Scott Judd.
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Categories: Australia, Notables in Government | Australia, Notable Adventurers, Explorers and Trailblazers | Torquay, Devon | Royal Naval College, Portsmouth | Queensland, Legislative Council | New South Wales, Legislative Council | Australia, Colonial Notables | Notables