A number of references are to be found in the literature concerning a Sir William PIGOTT, Baronet, evidently connected with Dublin, and in the period about 1830 to about 1855.
In particular, he is credited as being one of a number of gentlemen whose Book-plates (printed "Ex-Libris" plates, adhered inside book covers to identify ownership) are detailed in the 1880's in a series of entries posted in "Notes and Queries" by Andrew BYRNE, Bertha SMITH, John PIGGOTT, and Alfred L. MONTGOMERY.
This periodical journal had the sub-title of "Medium of Communication for Literary Men, General Readers, etc"; and was, in part, the late 19th century equivalent of today's genealogical web-site Message Boards and surname-Lists. They are a rich source for family history research, although probably not very widely accessed by researchers nowadays.
I was very fortunate to have worked next to an Undergraduate Library at the Australian National University during the 1980s, where a full set of them was readily accessible on open shelves in the Reading Room.
THE BOOK-PLATES.
Andrew BYRNE, of Bray, began the Book-plate discussion with his query in the issue of 24 April 1880 [Series 6, Volume I, page 336], as follows:
"THE BOOKPLATES OF LORD KEANE, SIR WILLIAM PIGOTT, BART., JAMES GREY, CHARLES KELLY, AND WILLIAM MAGUIRE.
"Wanted particulars of the above, kindly sent me by Miss B. SMITH."
Bertha SMITH, of St Bees, posted an answer in the issue of 10 July 1880 [Series 6, Volume II, page 34], as follows:
"The book-plate of Lord KEANE was taken from the cover of a book entitled 'The Attack and Defence of Fortified Places,' by John MULLER, and corrected and enlarged by Isaac LANDMANN, F.S.A., London, 1791. This was likely the plate of Sir John, who was created Baron KEANE in 1839.
"The plate of William MAGUIRE was taken from 'Friendship in Death, in Twenty Letters from the Dead to the Living,' by Mrs Elizabeth ROWE, Dublin, 1752, and on the title-page was written 'Thomas MAGUIRE, Ballyhays, county Cavan, 1759.'
"That of James GREY from 'Histoire des Gaulois,' par Jean PICOT, de Genève, à Genève, 1804; on the front page the name Susanna PIGOTT was written, and in a bundle of old letters I find one addressed to his wife Charlotte GREY, in which he mentions his son John.
"Charles KELLY's plate was pasted in vols of the 'Dublin Theatrical Observer,' 1821, and under one I found written 'Mary Ann KELLY, June 6, 1821.'
"Amongst a heterogeneous mass of books, pamphlets, and old letters, etc, as a bundle of some 270 plates of Arms of Sir William PIGOTT, Bart.; these, with a few more valuable articles, including a handsome silver presentation cup, having the latter's arms with an inscription, were left to my sister by a deceased friend; I believe they were originally purchased at an auction.
"These bits of paper are, apparently, highly prized, and not being collectors ourselves we took the liberty of sending a few impressions to correspondents of 'N. and Q.,' who were collecting plates, in preference to wantonly destroying them. Further information I am unable to furnish."
Evidently one of the "correspondents" to whom Bertha had sent her "impressions" was probably Andrew BYRNE of Bray.
The last three names in the title of the posts I instantly recognize as men who either married into the Dublin family of my great-great-great-grandparents John PIGOTT (ca 1759-1838) and his wife Mary VICKERS (1769-1829), or was related to them.
They were James GRAY, of Dublin, who married their daughter Charlotte PIGOTT; Charles KELLY, also of Dublin, who married their daughter Susannah PIGOTT; and William MAGUIRE, of Dublin, whose daughter Elizabeth MAGUIRE was the wife of their eldest son John PIGOTT Junior.
Quite how these men's Book-plates came to be associated with those of Lord KEANE remains a bit of an enigma.
LORD KEANE.
John KEANE was born on 6 February 1781, the son of Sir John KEANE, Baronet, of Belmont, County Waterford; he entered the Army in 1793; half-pay, 1795-99; promoted Captain, 44th Foot, Gibraltar, 1799; A.D.C. to Lord Cavan in Egypt, 1801; Major, 60th Foot, 1802; Lieutenant-Colonel, 13th Foot, 1803, joining the Regiment in Gibraltar; at Martinique, 1809, and was present at the Siege of Fort Desaix; Lieutenant-Colonel, 60th Foot, June 1812; Peninsular Wars; Major-General, June 1814; attack on New Orleans, December 1815, and wounded in January 1815; he served in Jamaica, 1823-30; was a General in India, and Commander-in-Chief of the Army in Bombay, 1833; Colonel of the 43rd Regiment of Foot, 1839; he entered Kabul in 1839; and then retired home, and settled in England; Knight of the Grand Cross of the Order of Bath (G.C.B.) and of Hanover (G.C.H.); created 1st Baron KEANE, 11 December 1839; he died at Burton Lodge, Hampshire, on 24 August 1844.
John was married firstly, on 10 August 1806, to Grace SMITH, a daughter of Lieutenant-General Sir John SMITH, Royal Artillery; she had eight children, of whom six survived, and died in Kent, on 14 January 1838; John was married secondly, on 20 August 1840, to Charlotte Maria BOLAND, a daughter of the late Lieutenant-Colonel John BOLAND (he died at Clifton in 1820, a Field Officer in Bristol), but she had no issue by Lord KEANE.
His widow Charlotte was married secondly, on 18 October 1847, as his second wife, to William PIGOTT of Dullingham House, Cambridgeshire. See further below.
BACK TO THE IMPROBABLE SIR WILLIAM PIGOTT, BARONET.
The "missing link" in the Book-plate story may be the man identified, probably in fantasy, as Sir William PIGOTT, Baronet.
Jno PIGGOTT, of no recorded address, answered the above exchange with a letter published in the issue of 31 July 1880, [Series 6, Volume II, page 94], as follow:
"The following cutting from the Irish Teachers' Journal, vol. xii, p. 500, probably refers to the Sir William PIGOTT, Bart., mentioned ante, p.34: 'We understand that the diary and manuscripts of the late Sir William PIGOTT, Bart., of Tincurry, comprising political letters and reminiscences of the Irish Court during the reigns of King George IV and King William IV, have been placed in the hands of a well-known literary writer with a view to compilation, and that the work will appear at an early date'."
I have as yet been unable to identify this John PIGGOTT.
Further, R. HARVEY, also with no address given, had a query published in the issue of 8 July 1882 [Series 6, Volume IV, page 448], as follows:
"I have in my possession a copy of the brochure on 'Irish Disturbances Remedied, etc,' by Sir William PIGOTT, Bart, of Charlotte Street, Dublin, printed by T. O'FLANAGAN, Bachelor's Walk, Dublin, and dated 1833. Sir William was also the author of another somewhat similar publication."
Of this "Sir" William PIGOTT we find several further mentions in family records of the Dublin family of John PIGOTT and Mary VICKERS, whose family details are recorded on another page on this blog-spot:
http://pigott-gorrie.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/john-pigott-of-dublin-tax-collectors.html
WILLIAM PIGOTT OF DUBLIN.
William was born at 2 Grafton Lane, Dublin, on 29 July 1810, youngest son of John PIGOTT and Mary VICKERS, and was baptised at St Luke's (C. of I.), Dublin, on 19 August 1810; he was admitted to Trinity College, Dublin, in 1832; B.A. 1837; he published a pamphlet, in Dublin, 1833, entitled "Is England an Enemy to Irish Progress, Considered; or, Political Disturbances in Ireland, Remedied," then residing at Charlotte Street; he was probably employed as Clerk, Secretary's Office, Paving Board, Dublin, 1835; 1st Clerk, Paving Board, 1841-48; Solicitor, Bolton Street, Dublin, 1842, and 7 Mountjoy Street Upper, 1844.
William died at Mountpleasant Square, Dublin, 11 May 1856, his death notice recording him as W. PIGOTT, and as the "...grandson of Captain John PIGOTT" [Notes and Queries] - further detail on his grandfather was published in the 26 Jul 1873 issue of Notes and Queries [Series 4, Volume 12, page 72], in a JACKSON pedigree supplied by his son (W.J.P.), as "...Captain John PIGOTT of Brockley Park, Queen's County."
William was buried at Mount Jerome Cemetery, Harold's Cross, in the grave of his mother-in-law (Sarah JACKSON formerly MILLER, who died in January 1849) and brother-in-law (William JACKSON, who died in May 1850, the last of his line).
William was married at St Bridget's (C. of I.), Dublin, 23 February 1841, to Mary JACKSON (daughter of Joseph JACKSON of Brockfield House, Tencurry, County Tipperary); she remarried at St Thomas's, Dublin, on 3 November 1857, John ROBERTS, of Dundrum, County Down.
William and Mary had issue an only son:
1. William Jackson PIGOTT, born at Dublin, 13 September 1842; a gentleman landowner, of Dundrum Manor, County Down, and the family historian; died at Newcastle, County Down, 26 July 1921; married at Old Monkland Church, Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, 21 November 1888, Elizabeth Shairpe MACKINTOSH; with issue two daughters.
When William Jackson PIGOTT (1842-1921) erected a memorial stone on his father's grave in Mount Jerome cemetery, probably some years after the death in 1856, he noted upon it that his grandmother's son-in-law was William PIGOTT, Bt.
William was therefore a sibling of the other children of John PIGOTT and Mary VICKERS, as follows:
1. Elizabeth PIGOTT, born at Dublin, 19 August 1795; died on 3 September 1795, aged 2 weeks.
2. John PIGOTT, born at Dublin, 22 October 1796; Tax Collector in Dublin, firstly for the Dublin Foundling Hospital, then for the Paving Board, and finally for the South Dublin Union; retired to the U.S. in ca 1858; married at St Peter's (C. of I.), Dublin, in June 1824, Elizabeth MAGUIRE, with issue.
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When this John PIGOTT Junior died in Kansas, U.S., in 1877, death notices were published in The London Times [15 October 1877] and Freeman's Dublin Journal [16 October], both of which recorded him as being the "...brother of the late Sir William PIGOTT, Bart."Further, when I began studying my family history some 35 years ago, one of the first pieces of PIGOTT family lore I found was a pedigree written by my elder brother Bill, which he had compiled during his days a medical student, using information that had arrived in Australia with various members of the PIGOTT family - and at the head of this pedigree was Sir William PIGOTT, of Dundin Castle.
However, much subsequent and detailed research failed to establish the veracity of this last detail.
3. Hester PIGOTT, born at Dublin, 1 October 1797, and baptised at St Luke's (C. of I.), Dublin, 15 October 1797; died aged 2 years.
4. Susannah PIGOTT, born at Dublin, 11 October 1798; she was married at St Peter's, Dublin, on 18 January 1827, Charles Aylmer KELLY, Chandler and Coal Merchant in Dublin, with issue.
5. Joseph PIGOTT, born at 2 Grafton Lane, Dublin, on 6 February 1802; Hairdresser and Perfumer in Cork City; married at Cork, by License dated 14 February 1830, Ellen RUMLEY (or ROMILLY), of Ballytrasna House, Cloyne, with issue.
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A marriage notice was the subject of yet another item in Notes and Queries [Series 6, Volume IX, page 317], in which Joseph was described as "... brother of Sir William PIGOTT, Baronet of Dublin."6. Charlotte PIGOTT, born at 2 Grafton Lane, Dublin, 21 July 1805; at Winding Alley, Dundrum, County Dublin, 1877; died at Gloucester Place, North Dublin, 6 November 1882, a widow; she was married at St Peter's (C. of I.), Dublin, 19 January 1837, James Henry GREY, Merchant and Brush Maker of Dublin, with issue.
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When Mrs Charlotte GRAY died in Dublin in late 1882, an obituary notice was published on an end page in Gentleman's Magazine [Volume 253, page 732], which identified her as:"... sister of the late Sir William PIGOTT, Bart..."
The obituary was rather unusually detailed for a commoner, and the writer of it was not identified.
At this stage, it is probably pertinent to note that when William Jackson PIGOTT published his version of his Dublin family's pedigree in HOWARD and CRISP's "Modern Visitation of Ireland," in 1895 [Volume 2, pages 94-96], his father's alleged Baronetcy had disappeared.
Therein, I believe, lies the kernel of the truth of this tale - and evidence of the likely "fabrication" of the said Baronetcy by his father's family.
And William Jackson PIGOTT does give us a clue about his father's youthful propensity for matters Heraldic - in the issue of Notes and Queries dated 26 January 1895 [Series 8, Volume VIII, page 74], he wrote:
"In a coloured sketch of the arms and crest done by my father, the late William PIGOTT, in 1826, when he was 16 years of age, the motto is 'HIC ET ULUBRIS'."
As to Lord KEANE, there was an association, after his death, with another branch of the Irish PIGOTT family - but it is to a somewhat distant branch of the family associated with Knapton, in the Queen's County, and this branch is the only Irish one for which a baronetcy was created, on 3 October 1808, in the person of Sir George PIGOTT (1764-1844), a member of the Queen's County branch of the PIGOTT family associated with Innishannon and Chetwynd, in County Cork.
Information concerning this family did form a part of the Notes and Queries exchanges on Book-plates in 1880, in an answer from Alfred L. MONTGOMERY in the issue dated 25 September 1880 [Series 6, Volume II, page 255], as follows:
"Sir George PIGOTT, Bart., of Knapton, married Annabella, daughter of the Right Hon. Thomas KELLY; and their third son, William PIGOTT, Esq., of Dullingham House, married, secondly, Charlotte Maria, relict of John, first Lord KEANE."
WILLIAM PIGOTT OF DULLINGHAM, CAMBRIDGESHIRE.
This third son, William PIGOTT, was born at Kellyville, Queen's County, on 29 October 1804; he was admitted into Trinity College, Dublin, on 22 April 1823; he married firstly, at the British Embassy in Brussels, on 23 June 1827, Harriett JEAFFRESON, a daughter of Christopher JEAFFRESON of Dullingham House, Cambridgeshire, by Elizabeth ROBINSON - although, curiously, William gave his address to the Ambassador's representative as Innishannon in the County of Cork (which had been the ancestral home of his great-great-grandfather).
William and Harriett had their first child, a son Christopher PIGOTT, born at Dullingham in 1830 (he would later adopt his mother's JEAFFRESON surname, and even later his grandmother ROBINSON's surname, both for inheritance purposes), and then two daughters, Ada and Harriett, were both born in Paris, in about 1832-34; it was there, in Paris, that Harriett died on 12 March 1838.
William settled at Dullingham House with the three children; and at Dullingham Parish Church, on 18 October 1847, he was married secondly to the Lady Charlotte Maria, a daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel John BOLAND, and the widow of John, Lord KEANE (see above).
Census returns for Dullingham House recorded, in 1841, William PIGOTT aged 34, Ind, born Ireland, with his son Christopher (5, born Cambridgeshire) and daughters Ada (8) and Harriett (7), both born in France; in 1851, William PIGOTT, aged 40, Deputy-Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire and Magistrate, Born Queen's County, Ireland, his wife Lady KEANE (30), born Sidmouth, Devonshire, his two daughters Ada (18) and Harriett (17), both born Paris, and his brother George PIGOTT (45, unmarried, born Queen's County, late Captain, 60th Rifles); in 1861, William was aged 55, Deputy Lieutenant, with wife Lady KEANE (45, Baroness), son C.W. ROBINSON (25, Esquire, born Dullingham), and daughter Harriett PIGOTT (26, Gentlewoman).
It had occurred to me that this William PIGOTT, with a wife Lady Charlotte, a Dowager Baroness indeed, might have been tempted to style himself Sir William, or perhaps people he met with his wife may have assumed that she was a Lady because of his status in society.
It certainly makes sense that a Book-plate of Lord KEANE could well have ended up in the possession of his widow, and then by her second marriage, into the hands of William PIGOTT of Dullingham.
INQUIRY INTO POLITICAL INTRIGUES OF THE IRISH COURT.
It had also occurred to me that as this William, being six years older than William PIGOTT of Dublin, may have been a more likely candidate for the Lord Deputy of Ireland's investigator of 1832-33, especially given his family connections.
Mrs Charlotte GRAY's obituary notice [Gentleman's Magazine, Volume 253, page 732] mentioned her brother, the late Sir William PIGOTT, Bart (see above), adding that he was:
"... an intimate and trusted friend of the late Earl of Carlisle when Chief Secretary of Ireland, and the late Marquis Wellesley, by whom he was privately engaged in inquiry into political intrigues in the Irish Court during his Excellency's vice-royalty."
That William PIGOTT was "an intimate and trusted friend of the late Earl of Carlisle... and the late Marquis Wellesley" asks a few questions about the identity of this William, and how he came to be so intimate and so trusted.
George HOWARD (1802-1864) was the 7th Earl of Carlisle, and served under Lord Melbourne as the Chief Secretary for Ireland between 1835 and 1841. He was educated at Eton, and Christ Church, Oxon; he was a Member of Parliament, and represented the West Riding of Yorkshire during his time in Ireland.
There do not appear to be any parts of his career that he would have shared with either William PIGOTT, although William of Dullingham was obviously more of his age, and lived in England.
Richard Colley WELLESLEY (1760-1842), the Marquis Wellesley and Earl of Mornington, was an older brother of Sir Arthur WELLESLEY, later the Duke of Wellington; the two brothers did not agree on issues surrounding catholic emancipation in Ireland, the Duke being strongly opposed.
Richard served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland under two administrations - firstly from 1821 until 1828, resigning when his brother Arthur became Prime Minister - and secondly, under Earl GREY as P.M., from 1833 until the Whig Ministry was dismissed by King George IV in 1834.
He was clearly a lot older than either William PIGOTT, and there is even less likelihood they had connections with him before his return to Dublin Castle in 1833.
It might be of some significance that WELLESLEY quit Ireland about the time that the younger HOWARD arrived on the scene.
But when William PIGOTT published his pamphlet in Dublin in 1833, entitled "Is England an Enemy to Irish Progress, Considered; or, Political Disturbances in Ireland, Remedied," he was recorded on the pamphlet as being of Charlotte Street, Dublin - which was, of course, the street in which his father, John PIGOTT Senior, resided.
And what is evident from this date, 1833, is that William PIGOTT of Dullingham does appear to have been having children born in France around this time, and so very unlikely to have been in Dublin. Further, these children were by his first wife, and William was still nearly 15 years away from becoming the lawful consort of the dowager Baroness, Lady KEANE, in whose shadow he may have been seen by some to have been entitled to the respectfulness of being called "Sir."
The differences of opinion between the WELLESLEY brothers over Catholic emancipation may have been where young William PIGOTT came into "prominence." I have not seen a copy of his 1833 brochure/pamphlet, and I am not aware that any copies have survived - but if it was an under-graduate treatise on Irish affairs, and his angle on the matters was in any way sympathetic to the more progressive forces, then the Marquis of Wellesley may well have seen it as supporting his own views, and made young William PIGOTT aware of his approval. But WELLESLEY's departure in 1834 probably saw William's star begin to wane before it ever shone very bright.
SIR WILLIAM PIGOTT, BARONET?
There are no official records pertaining to any William PIGOTT being elevated, by purchase, inheritance, or otherwise, into the ranks of the Baronetcy, or with a Knighthood.
From this fact alone, it would appear that the title had to have been "created" by one or other of the two William PIGOTT's mentioned above.
Again, I have been tempted to investigate the possibility that William PIGOTT of Dublin's father, John PIGOTT Senior (ca 1759-1838), may have been a closer relation of William PIGOTT of Dullingham than published pedigrees currently allow, or that he may even have been a son of a William PIGOTT.
As I have calculated, William PIGOTT of Dublin was a fifth cousin of William PIGOTT of Dullingham's father, Sir George, the 1st Baronet of Knapton.
As I have calculated, William PIGOTT of Dublin was a fifth cousin of William PIGOTT of Dullingham's father, Sir George, the 1st Baronet of Knapton.
But here, once again, William Jackson PIGOTT gives us the lead, and identifies John Senior's father as Captain John PIGOTT of Stradbally, Queen's County.
There was a reason why Bertha SMITH found 270 plates of Arms of Sir William PIGOTT, Bart, among the trove she was given.
Perhaps that reason was simply that William PIGOTT himself realised the "fantasy" of his own Baronetcy "creation," and was sensible enough not to make "fraudulent" use them.
A "BOGUS" SET OF QUARTERED ARMS.
The Journal of the Ex-Libris Society, Volume 8, 1889 [A. and C. BLACK, London], at page 125, published an image of a set of quartered Arms, as plate 318, which was the subject of a query on page 121, as follows:
"BOOK-PLATE IDENTIFICATION.
"... Nos 310 and 318 - The plates of... 'Sir William PIGOTT, Bart,' (p.125), have been inserted in the hopes that some of our correspondents may be able to explain their curious quarterings."
This was followed up with a reply, at page 137:
"No 318 - This plate has in its first and fourth quarters the arms of PIGOTT and JACKSON, Baronets, but the second and third quarters are apparently bogus, and so far as we can find, there never was a Sir William PIGOTT in either of the families of PIGOTT who are baronets, nor can we find any connection between the families of PIGOTT, Bart, and the extinct family of JACKSON, Bart, of Beach Hill."
The identifications are credited to Rev F.R. ELLIS and others whose names do not appear in the snippet revealed in a google.book.search, although one of the others was probably a Mr JEWERS.
I have a copy of an image of these quartered arms, sent from Dublin a few years ago, but am as yet unable to recover them from a mountain of paper at home.
The second and third quarterings are for the families of HILCOCK and VICKERS, both of Dublin. I have no doubt that they were prepared for, or probably by, our friend William PIGOTT of Dublin - the precocious student who was already drawing the PIGOTT family arms as a 16 year-old.
I am no expert on matters Heraldic, but I have read a little on the craft, and it seems that these are probably not an approved model of quartered arms.
I find no evidence that William PIGOTT made any formal application for a grant of Arms to the Office of the Chief Herald in Ireland. He might have got a bit of a surprise if he had - as his father was evidently illegitimate, the arms he would have been granted, had the Chief Herald been aware of that fact, would have been those of the family of PIGOTT adorned with the stick of bastardy.
That William may just have had an inkling of this might account for him not making such an application, and, indeed, going about creating his own, and economising by putting four individual armorial bearings into the one "quartered" set - using the escutcheons associated with the families of his father, his grandmother, his mother and his wife.
But a formal grant would probably not have been a quartered set anyway, if I understand J.P. BROOKE-LITTLE, who wrote in the "Coat of Arms," No 17, in January 1954:
"As convention stands today, the children of an heraldic heiress may quarter their mother's arms with their father's after their mother's death...
"Quarterings can only be acquired through an armigerous person. Your mother may have been as armigerous as anyone, but if you are not armigerous in your own right, you cannot inherit her noble quartering."
I am not suggesting that William PIGOTT's wife, Mary JACKSON, was not an heraldic heiress - indeed, she did become the only surviving child of Joseph JACKSON (1764 - 1849) of Brookfield House, Tencurry (or Tincurry), County Tipperary, when her brother William JACKSON died without issue in May 1850, aged about 35.
Finally, it is evident to me that the four sets of arms were selected by William PIGOTT to represent the following people (some of whom may not actually qualify to have been armigerous in their own right), most of whom were dead before he was born:
1. PIGOTT - "Ermine, Three fusils conjoined in fess, Sable" with "A crescent Or on the middle fusil" - for his father, John PIGOTT (about 1759 - 1838) of Dublin; and his probable grandfather, Captain John PIGOTT of Stradbally, Queen's County.
The crest depicting a wolf's head, couped at the neck, propre, with a crescent on the neck, is part of the PIGOTT of Queen's County Coat of Arms; as is the motto "Hic et Ulubris" - which has been translated as "Here and at Ulubris" and attributed to HORACE [Eleventh Epistle, First Book], with Ulubrae being identified as a small, decayed village on the edge of the Palatine marshes, the whole being interpreted, by Edward VENABLES [Notes and Queries, 9 March 1895, page 190], as "True happiness depends on oneself, not a place."
2. HILCOCK - for his great-grandfather, Barnaby HILCOCK, of Dublin, whose daughter Hester was the mother of the said John PIGOTT (William's father).
Barnaby HILCOCK was recorded in "Dated Book-plates (Ex-Libris)," by Walter HAMILTON, London, 1895, at page 72, as:
"1751 - Barnaby HILCOCK, Dublin. Plain. Arm. 'Contra stimulum calces.' Very rough engraving."
This is the correct version of the corrupted motto shown at the top of the quartered image above. It has been translated as "Your opposition is in vain." It is evident from the way the first two letters of the second word stimulus have been severed and attached to the first word contra, that the compiler of it was not too strong on his Latin vocabulary.
3. VICKERS - for his maternal grandfather, Joseph VICKERS (born 1734; living 1792; dead by 1797), Silk Weaver/Manufacturer, of Dublin.
However, there is no conclusive evidence that the Dublin VICKERS family was related to the VICKERS family whose Arms are depicted here. It is possible, perhaps even probable, but not yet proven.
The blazon for a similar but more detailed set of Arms for another VICKERS family in Ireland is - "Argent, on a Cross flory Gules, five mullets of the first, a chief Sable, thereon three millrinds Or."
4. JACKSON - for his father-in-law, Joseph JACKSON.
The "bogus" Baronet, perhaps. But using a little bit of bravura imagination.
WILLIAM JACKSON PIGOTT
William PIGOTT's only child was William Jackson PIGOTT. He may be the man whose photo appears on a post-card advertised on e-bay:
The following inscription appears on the reverse:
"With all well wishes of the season from South Down Sub Unit, Ireland. Wm Jackson PIGOTT, Commandant. Xmas, 1912."
About 10 years ago, I became aware of a bundle of books being advertised for sale by De BURCA's Antiquarian Booksellers, Dublin, that had belonged to William Jackson PIGOTT. The purchase price was then in excess of 1200 Euros, entirely out of my reach, budget-wise. Fortunately, I was able to obtain an appraisal of it by a research colleague and distant relative living in Dublin, and his report indicated that there was very little of genealogical value left in it, and what remained was entirely the antiquarian value, and probably still considerably over-priced. The inscribed presentation cup mentioned in the Book-plate correspondence was certainly not amongst the holdings.
There was a reason why Bertha SMITH found 270 plates of Arms of Sir William PIGOTT, Bart, among the trove she was given.
Perhaps that reason was simply that William PIGOTT himself realised the "fantasy" of his own Baronetcy "creation," and was sensible enough not to make "fraudulent" use them.
A "BOGUS" SET OF QUARTERED ARMS.
The Journal of the Ex-Libris Society, Volume 8, 1889 [A. and C. BLACK, London], at page 125, published an image of a set of quartered Arms, as plate 318, which was the subject of a query on page 121, as follows:
"BOOK-PLATE IDENTIFICATION.
"... Nos 310 and 318 - The plates of... 'Sir William PIGOTT, Bart,' (p.125), have been inserted in the hopes that some of our correspondents may be able to explain their curious quarterings."
This was followed up with a reply, at page 137:
"No 318 - This plate has in its first and fourth quarters the arms of PIGOTT and JACKSON, Baronets, but the second and third quarters are apparently bogus, and so far as we can find, there never was a Sir William PIGOTT in either of the families of PIGOTT who are baronets, nor can we find any connection between the families of PIGOTT, Bart, and the extinct family of JACKSON, Bart, of Beach Hill."
The identifications are credited to Rev F.R. ELLIS and others whose names do not appear in the snippet revealed in a google.book.search, although one of the others was probably a Mr JEWERS.
[An image of the "bogus" Coat of Arms of the alleged Sir William PIGOTT, as published in the Ex-Libris Journal, 1889, page 125. This image kindly provided by Tony PINCOTT, Hon Treasurer and Membership Secretary of The Bookplate Society, London.]
I have a copy of an image of these quartered arms, sent from Dublin a few years ago, but am as yet unable to recover them from a mountain of paper at home.
The second and third quarterings are for the families of HILCOCK and VICKERS, both of Dublin. I have no doubt that they were prepared for, or probably by, our friend William PIGOTT of Dublin - the precocious student who was already drawing the PIGOTT family arms as a 16 year-old.
I am no expert on matters Heraldic, but I have read a little on the craft, and it seems that these are probably not an approved model of quartered arms.
I find no evidence that William PIGOTT made any formal application for a grant of Arms to the Office of the Chief Herald in Ireland. He might have got a bit of a surprise if he had - as his father was evidently illegitimate, the arms he would have been granted, had the Chief Herald been aware of that fact, would have been those of the family of PIGOTT adorned with the stick of bastardy.
That William may just have had an inkling of this might account for him not making such an application, and, indeed, going about creating his own, and economising by putting four individual armorial bearings into the one "quartered" set - using the escutcheons associated with the families of his father, his grandmother, his mother and his wife.
But a formal grant would probably not have been a quartered set anyway, if I understand J.P. BROOKE-LITTLE, who wrote in the "Coat of Arms," No 17, in January 1954:
"As convention stands today, the children of an heraldic heiress may quarter their mother's arms with their father's after their mother's death...
"Quarterings can only be acquired through an armigerous person. Your mother may have been as armigerous as anyone, but if you are not armigerous in your own right, you cannot inherit her noble quartering."
I am not suggesting that William PIGOTT's wife, Mary JACKSON, was not an heraldic heiress - indeed, she did become the only surviving child of Joseph JACKSON (1764 - 1849) of Brookfield House, Tencurry (or Tincurry), County Tipperary, when her brother William JACKSON died without issue in May 1850, aged about 35.
Finally, it is evident to me that the four sets of arms were selected by William PIGOTT to represent the following people (some of whom may not actually qualify to have been armigerous in their own right), most of whom were dead before he was born:
1. PIGOTT - "Ermine, Three fusils conjoined in fess, Sable" with "A crescent Or on the middle fusil" - for his father, John PIGOTT (about 1759 - 1838) of Dublin; and his probable grandfather, Captain John PIGOTT of Stradbally, Queen's County.
The crest depicting a wolf's head, couped at the neck, propre, with a crescent on the neck, is part of the PIGOTT of Queen's County Coat of Arms; as is the motto "Hic et Ulubris" - which has been translated as "Here and at Ulubris" and attributed to HORACE [Eleventh Epistle, First Book], with Ulubrae being identified as a small, decayed village on the edge of the Palatine marshes, the whole being interpreted, by Edward VENABLES [Notes and Queries, 9 March 1895, page 190], as "True happiness depends on oneself, not a place."
2. HILCOCK - for his great-grandfather, Barnaby HILCOCK, of Dublin, whose daughter Hester was the mother of the said John PIGOTT (William's father).
Barnaby HILCOCK was recorded in "Dated Book-plates (Ex-Libris)," by Walter HAMILTON, London, 1895, at page 72, as:
"1751 - Barnaby HILCOCK, Dublin. Plain. Arm. 'Contra stimulum calces.' Very rough engraving."
This is the correct version of the corrupted motto shown at the top of the quartered image above. It has been translated as "Your opposition is in vain." It is evident from the way the first two letters of the second word stimulus have been severed and attached to the first word contra, that the compiler of it was not too strong on his Latin vocabulary.
3. VICKERS - for his maternal grandfather, Joseph VICKERS (born 1734; living 1792; dead by 1797), Silk Weaver/Manufacturer, of Dublin.
However, there is no conclusive evidence that the Dublin VICKERS family was related to the VICKERS family whose Arms are depicted here. It is possible, perhaps even probable, but not yet proven.
The blazon for a similar but more detailed set of Arms for another VICKERS family in Ireland is - "Argent, on a Cross flory Gules, five mullets of the first, a chief Sable, thereon three millrinds Or."
4. JACKSON - for his father-in-law, Joseph JACKSON.
The "bogus" Baronet, perhaps. But using a little bit of bravura imagination.
WILLIAM JACKSON PIGOTT
William PIGOTT's only child was William Jackson PIGOTT. He may be the man whose photo appears on a post-card advertised on e-bay:
The following inscription appears on the reverse:
"With all well wishes of the season from South Down Sub Unit, Ireland. Wm Jackson PIGOTT, Commandant. Xmas, 1912."
About 10 years ago, I became aware of a bundle of books being advertised for sale by De BURCA's Antiquarian Booksellers, Dublin, that had belonged to William Jackson PIGOTT. The purchase price was then in excess of 1200 Euros, entirely out of my reach, budget-wise. Fortunately, I was able to obtain an appraisal of it by a research colleague and distant relative living in Dublin, and his report indicated that there was very little of genealogical value left in it, and what remained was entirely the antiquarian value, and probably still considerably over-priced. The inscribed presentation cup mentioned in the Book-plate correspondence was certainly not amongst the holdings.