Biggerstaff Name

Biggerstaff

Definition: “beekeeper”; landing place

Surname Origin: This interesting surname, of Anglo-Saxon origin with variant spellings Bickerstaff, Bickerstaffe, Bickersteth and Bicksteth, is a locational name from a minor place called Bickerstaffe in the parish of Ormskirk, Lancashire, deriving from the Olde English pre 7th Century "beocere", meaning beekeeper, and "steth", landing place.

Biggerstaff has been spelled many different ways, including Before English spelling became standardized over the last few hundred years, spelling variations in names were a common occurrence. As the English language changed in the Middle Ages, absorbing pieces of Latin and French, as well as other languages, the spelling of people's names also changed considerably, even over a single lifetime. Bickerstaffe, Bickerstaff, Bickerstath, Bickerstathe, Bickersteth and many more.

First found in Lancashire, where they held a family seat from ancient times, long before the Norman Conquest in 1066.

The place name was recorded as "Bikerstad" in the Cockersand Chartulary of 1190. The surname dates back to the mid 12th Century (see below), and one Henry Bekerstaff was recorded in the 1397 "Calendar of Inquisitiones Postmortem". Locational surnames, such as this, were usually acquired by a local landowners, or by the lord of the manor, and especially by those former inhabitants of a place who had moved to another area and were thereafter best identified by the name of their birthplace. Recordings of the surname from London Church Registers include: the christening of Robert, son of Robert and Sarah Biggerstaff, on March 26th, 1686, at St. Mary Whitechapel, Stepney, and the christening of Edward, son of Edward and Judith Biggerstaff, on June 3rd, 1694, at St. Paul's, Covent Gardens, Westminster. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Alan de Birkestad, which was dated 1246, witness in the "Assize Court Rolls of Lancashire", during the reign of King Henry 111, known as "The Frenchman", 1216 - 1272. Surnames became necessary when governments introduced personal taxation. In England this was known as Poll Tax. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

In an attempt to escape the chaos experienced in England, many English families boarded overcrowded and diseased ships sailing for the shores of North America and other British colonies. Those families hardy enough, and lucky enough, to make the passage intact were rewarded with land and a social environment less prone to religious and political persecution. Many of these families became important contributors to the young colonies in which they settled. Early immigration and passenger lists have documented some of the first Biggerstaffs to arrive on North American shores: Sarah Bickerstaff who settled in Pennsylvania in 1682