Herbert William Rigg (1870 - 1943)

Born 24 Jun 1870 in Bolton, Westmorland, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Husband of Marjory (Migro) Rigg — married 1895 in Victoria, Australia

Descendants

Died 17 Jun 1943 at age 72 in Wokalup, Western Australia, Australia

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Andrew Rigg [send private message]

Biography

Bill Rigg is Notable.

Descendant of King Christian I of Denmark, Sweden & Norway.

Descendant of King James III of Scotland.

Descendant of King James IV of Scotland.

Descendant of King James V of Scotland.

Descendant of King Henry VII.

Descendant of King Edward II.

Descendant of King Edward III.

Descendant of King Edward IV.

Herbert William Rigg is an Australian gateway ancestor for descendants of King Edward 3rd.

Herbert was born in Bolton, Westmorland, United Kingdom on the 24 June 1870, the son of Lt Col Hugh Rigg and Margaret Carthew. ^[1][2]

Both his father and grandfather (General Morden Carthew C.B.) served in the 21st Native Infantry in Madras India. This was originally the private army of the East India Company before being subsumed into Her Majesty's Indian Army in the 1870s.

He spent the early years of his life at Crossrigg Hall near the village of Bolton in Westmorland, Cumbria.^[3]

Siblings
Herbert had 15 brothers and sisters;

• Hugh Carthew Rigg - b. 25 Feb 1849
• Maria Addison Rigg - b. 29 September 1850
• Morden Rigg - b. 29 Mar 1852
• Robert Addison Rigg - b. 11 July 1853 (also a Lt Col in the Royal Army and lived for a time in Canada)
• Margaret Rigg - b. 25 Jan 1855, d. 22 Feb 1856
• Mary Rigg - b. 25 Feb 1856, d. 13 Oct 1879
• Fanny Rigg - b. 29 Jul 1857
• Jemima Ewart Rigg - b. 11 Jan 1859, d. 1 Jan 1941
• Jonathan Rigg - b. 16 May 1860
• Charles Alfred Rigg - b. 11 Mar 1863
• Annie Emily Rigg - b. 7 Mar 1863 (year of birth as listed in Madras military records and probably a mis-transcription - see ref below).
• George Rigg - b. 6 Dec 1866
• Frederic James Rigg - b. 13 Feb 1868
• Godfrey Edward Rigg - b. 24 Mar 1869
• Ada Maggie Rigg - b. 2 Sep 1871^[4]

Herbert left England to study at the Royal Military College in Ontario, Canada where his elder brother, Robert, was an officer and professor of artillery and mathematics. He did not complete his studies and returned suddenly to England.^[5]

Herbert emigrated to Australia in the late 1800's, arriving firstly in Victoria and settling in the Gippsland area. It was here he met and married Marjorie Migro, the daughter of French and Irish immigrants, Augustus Cornelius Migro and Ellen McBride, in 1895.^[6] The first four of their seven children were born in Victoria.

On the 12th March 1903 Herbert and Majorie purchased 20 acres of uncleared farm land at Wokalup near Harvey in the south west of Western Australia. This land was undeveloped and had been taken from the Crown in 1884 by the W.A. Land Company and then purchased in 1902 by a Victorian syndicate which subdivided the land, creating the Wokalup townsite and orchard and farm lots. ^[7]

Children

• Herbert William - b. 1896 (Served as a medic with the 8th Field Ambulance in France during WWI)^[8]
• Augustus Cornelius - b. 1897 (served as an infantryman in France during WWI), never married).^[9]
• Godfrey Edward - b. 1899^[10]
• Alma Kathleen - b.1901^[11]
• Morden Addison - b. 1904
• Hugh Rigg - b. 1908^[12]
• Margaret (Minnie) Carthew - b. 1911^[13]

Out of his 15 siblings, only one other, his sister Maria Addison Rigg, married and had children. Maria married Frederick Blanchard (or Blanshard) in 1876 and gave birth to a daughter, Kathleen, in 1886. Kathleen, however, never married and died without issue in 1968.^[14]

Herbert farmed in Wokalup for many years, the original homestead still stands on Dixon Ave. Some of the original land owned by Herbert remained in the Rigg family, farmed by his grandson, Colin, until 2011 when the last of it was sold off. A number of his son's and grandson's went on to become farmers and the Rigg name has become synonymous with the Harvey district.

Herbert is a direct descendent of King Edward III of England and is recognised as a "gateway ancestor" in Australia, being among the first direct descedants of English royalty to settle there. He is also a direct descendant of King Christian the 1st of Denmark, Sweden and Norway, King James V of Scotland and King Henry the VII of England among other notable figures from modern European history.

Herbert passed away in Wokalup on the 17 June 1943.^[15]

Sources

1. ↑ FreeBMD. England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Original data: General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office. © Crown copyright. Published by permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Office for National Statistics. Database Copyright © 1998-2003 Graham Hart, Ben Laurie, Camilla von Massenbach and David Mayall.[1]
2. ↑ "England and Wales Census, 1871", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V557-JDD : 15 July 2021), Herbert William Rigg in entry for Hugh Rigg, 1871.
3. ↑ The National Archives; Kew, London, England; 1871 England Census; Class: RG10; Piece: 5274; Folio: 49; Page: 11; GSU roll: 847455. Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1871 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.[2]
4. ↑ National Archives (https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/). Madras Military Pension Fund, African and Asian Studies.[3]
5. ↑ Oral family history. Documentation supporting this and detailing the reason behind his sudden departure from Canada exists but is not currently in the possession of this profile's editor.
6. ↑ Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria (https://bdm.vic.gov.au). Marriage: Rigg, Herbert William and MIGRO, Marjorie.[4]
7. ↑ Sale of the Wokalup Estate in The West Australian, 13th March 1903 [5]
8. ↑ Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria (https://bdm.vic.gov.au). Birth: RIGG, Herbert William.[6]
9. ↑ Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria (https://bdm.vic.gov.au). Birth: RIGG, Augustus Cornelius.[7]
10. ↑ Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria (https://bdm.vic.gov.au). Birth: RIGG, Godfrey Edward.[8]
11. ↑ Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria (https://bdm.vic.gov.au). Birth: RIGG, Alma Kathleen.[9]
12. ↑ Department of Justice, Births, Deaths and Marriages (https://bdm.justice.wa.gov.au). Birth. RIGG, Hugh. Accessed 7 October 2020.
13. ↑ Department of Justice, Births, Deaths and Marriages (https://bdm.justice.wa.gov.au). Birth. RIGG, Margaret. Accessed 7 October 2020.
14. ↑ "England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVCP-SLH7 : 1 November 2021), Kathleen M Blanshard, 1968.
15. ↑ Department of Justice, Births, Deaths and Marriages (https://bdm.justice.wa.gov.au). Death. RIGG, Herbert. Accessed 7 October 2020.