Patience Bigg
Widow of Richard Foster of Biddenden, who embarked at London on the Elizabeth in April 1635 with her son Hopestill and her mother; her brother John Bigg of Maidstone remembered "my sister Foster" among his family "living in New England." Probably a daughter of John Bigg and Rachel Martin.
Life
- 1588Bornbp. 5 May 1588, Cranbrook, Kent, England
Pane-Joyce. Aged 40 on the embarkation list of April 1635.
compiledprobableSources
Family
- Father
- John Bigg
Her brother Smallhope's will calls Hopestill Foster "son of my sister"; her brother John Bigg of Maidstone remembered "my sister Foster."
compiledprobable - Mother
- Spouse
- Richard Foster
John Besbeech of Biddenden's will of 28 June 1609 left a bequest to "Richard Foster and Patience his wife" (NEHGR 67:33, via WikiTree).
3 children
- Siblings
Pedigree
Notes
Widow of Richard Foster of Biddenden. The Biggs were clothiers of Cranbrook and Lydd. Embarked at London on the Elizabeth on 17 Apr 1635 with her son Hopestill and her mother: “Patience Foster, aged 40. Hopestill Foster, 14. Rachel Bigg, 6 [sic, for 60].” “Rachel Bigge,” “Patience ffoster” and “Hopestill ffoster” appear together in the early list of members of the Dorchester church (Records of the First Church at Dorchester).
Her brother Smallhope Bigg of Cranbrook, clothier, made his will on 3 May 1638: “To my mother Rachell Bigg one hundred pounds … To my sisters Patience Foster and Elizabeth Stow in New England. To Hopestill Foster, son of my sister three hundred pounds.” Patience and her sister joined Smallhope’s widow in contesting the will against the executor, their brother John Bigg, and it was confirmed on 4 Apr 1639 (Waters, Gleanings 1:21). John Bigg of Maidstone, jurat, finished his own will on 27 Mar 1641[/2] (proved 7 Feb 1642[/3]). It left legacies to “My mother Bigg, my sister Foster, my brother Stowe, all these living in New England,” and also to “my porter and fetcher in of my water” (Waters 1:22).
Mollie’s death date for her, 30 Jan 1702/3 aged 84 (p. 113), belongs to her daughter-in-law Mary (Bate) Foster.
Open questions
- Her death, which is unknown. Pane-Joyce gives 18 Mar 1637 at Dorchester, but her brothers’ wills name her as living in 1638 and about 1641.
- Baptized 1588, but aged 40 in 1635. Which is right?
- Her mother: the colonial tree marks Rachel (Martin) Bigg as her mother on documentary evidence (her brothers’ wills, which name “my mother” Rachel Bigg and “my sister” Patience Foster). The page keeps the link as compiled, probable.
Mollie's typescript
As a widow she embarked in the Elizabeth on 17 Apr 1635 with her son Hopestill and her family, giving her age as 40, and came over with her mother Rachel Bigg.
His widow and son Hopestill, and members of her family, on 17 April 1635, "embarqued on ye Elizabeth, Wm. Stagg Mr.
p. 117 →Mollie says she came from a wealthy Kent family; her brothers Smallhope and John Bigg held lands at Cranbrook, Withersham and Lydd, and her sister Elizabeth married the Stow who settled at Dorchester.
Patience Bigg, the wife of Richard Foster (2) cam from a wealthy family in Kent. ... Her sister was Elizabeth, the wife of the Stow who set-settled in Dorchester.
p. 120 →
Checked against the records
- DisprovenPatience Bigg died 30 Jan 1702/3, aged 84
That death belongs to her daughter-in-law, Mary (Bate) Foster, who died 4 or 5 Jan 1702/3 aged 84 (her tombstone). Patience was 40 when she embarked in 1635, so she would have been over a hundred. Her own death is unknown.
Read it in the book, p. 113 → - ProvenThe Fosters and the Bates sailed on the Milletts' ship
True. On 17 April 1635 James Bate, 53, his wife Alice and their children, and Patience Foster, 40, her son Hopestill, 14, and her mother Rachel Bigg, were embarked in the Elizabeth, William Stagg master, the ship that carried the Milletts (Hotten's Original Lists).
Read it in the book, p. 171 →
Connections
- Small world