John Thomas Bigge (1780 - 1843)

Born 8 Mar 1780 in Longbenton, Northumberland, England

Ancestors

Died 22 Dec 1843 at age 63 in St George Hanover Square, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom

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Biography

John Bigge is Notable.

John was born on 8 March 1780 at Benton House, in the hamlet of Little Benton, parish of Longbenton, Northumberland, and baptised on 10 April 1780 at Longbenton, Northumberland.^[1] He was the son of Thomas Bigge and Jemima Ord.

John Bigge was educated at Newcastle Grammar school and Westminster School (1795), and in 1797 entered Christ Church, Oxford (B,A.,1801; M.A., 1804). He was called to the Bar in 1806 and was appointed Chief Judge of Trinidad in 1814 and held it for four years.

in 1819 Bigge was appointed commissioner of inquiry into the colony of New South Wales. He differed in ideology from Governor Macquarie, and relations between the two men quickly deteriorated. Bigge felt there was unnecessary expenditure in Macquarie's public works programme, and he was against the appointment by Macquarie of ex-convicts as local magistrates. Bigge gravitated towards John Macarthur and the "exclusives". His visit and the reaction to his reports bring to light the political division within the colony at the time: exclusives vs emancipists. For convicts, he recommended more private assignment, and more discipline.

Bigge prepared three reports which were printed by the House of Commons:

• The State of the Colony of New South Wales, 19 June 1822
• The Judicial Establishments of New South Wales and of Van Diemen's Land, 21 February 1823
• The State of Agriculture and Trade in the Colony of New South Wales, 13 March 1823

Bigge returned to England in 1821 and within two years was given a similar appointment to investigate Cape Colony, Mauritius and Ceylon with Major William Colebrooke.

He returned to England in 1829.

Death: He died on 22 December 1843 at the Grosvenor Hotel in London.^[2]

Death notices

"On Friday last, at the Grosvenor Hotel, Park-street, London, John Thomas, third son of the late John Thomas Bigge, Esq., of Benton House, Northumberland".^[3]

"On the 22d inst., John Thomas Bigge, Esq., formerly Commissioner at the Cape of Good Hope."^[4]

Monumental inscription (Marble plaque with black surround, over porch door) in All Saints, Fulham, Middlesex: ^[5]

To the memory

of

JOHN THOMAS BIGGE

of the Inner Temple Esquire

Barrister at Law, formerly Chief Justice of Trinidad

third son of THOMAS CHARLES BIGGE of Benton House

in the county of Northumberland Esquire

This monument is erected

by his surviving brother and sister

Born 8th March 1780

Died 22 Dec. 1843.

He was buried in Northumberland.^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ "England, Northumberland, Parish Registers, 1538-1950", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPWY-98K8 : 19 November 2020), John Thomas Bigge, 1780. (His date of birth is on his burial monument inscription)
2. ↑ GRO online index BIGGE, JOHN THOMAS age 62 GRO Reference: 1844 M Quarter in SAINT GEORGE HANOVER SQUARE Volume 01 Page 23
3. ↑ Durham County Advertiser 29 December 1843, Find my past British Newspapers https://search.findmypast.com.au/bna/viewarticle?id=bl%2f0000612%2f18431229%2f028&stringtohighlight=john%20bigge
4. ↑ Sun (London) 28 December 1843, Find my past British Newspapers https://search.findmypast.com.au/bna/viewarticle?id=bl%2f0002194%2f18431228%2f031&stringtohighlight=john%20bigge
5. ↑ Middlesex Monumental Inscriptions, (Transcriptions, West Middlesex Family History Society), Find My Past https://www.findmypast.com.au/transcript?id=PRS%2FMIDD%2FMONUINSC%2F31176
6. ↑ "England, Northumberland, Parish Registers, 1538-1950", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QP3T-GKMW : 19 November 2020), John Thomas Bigge, 1843.

• J. M. Bennett, 'Bigge, John Thomas (1780–1843)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/bigge-john-thomas-1779/text1999, published first in hardcopy 1966, accessed online 10 February 2022.
• John Thomas Bigge 8 March 1780 – 1843 (LHJN-GBZ) Familysearch https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LHJN-GBZ
• "John Thomas Bigge", The Peerage.com https://www.thepeerage.com/p47036.htm#i470360
• Gary Crockett. Convict Sydney Part 3: 1822–1826 "Back to Business", Sydney Living Museums (2017) https://sydneylivingmuseums.com.au/convict-sydney/back-business
• "The Macquarie Bicentennial: A Reappraisal Of The Bigge Reports" By the Honourable J J Spigelman AC Chief Justice of New South Wales, History Council of New South Wales Annual History Lecture 2009 https://historycouncilnsw.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/2009-AHL-Spigelman.pdf

See also:

• Pauline Conolly. "The Strange Story of Commissioner Bigge’s Will". Accessed 10 February 2022.
• Wikipedia: John Bigge