Final newsletter

 I am reproducing the text of the ninth newsletter here which will be the last in this form but will continue to write blog posts if anything interesting comes to light. Links to news items or other websites will be posted on the Rigmaiden Facebook page.

Ninth newsletter of the Rigmaiden One-Name Study Group

1.     I have decided that this will be the last Rigmaiden One Name Study newsletter as I feel that I have taken it as far as I can and will be concentrating on the completion of a book on the subject in the coming months. I hope that you have found the newsletters interesting and that maybe they have answered questions for some of you or encouraged some to take up your own researches.

I will continue with the blog at http://rigmaidens.blogspot.co.uk/ and the Facebook group which is called the Rigmaiden Family History Group, for the time being.

Unfortunately, at the time of writing, there has not been anyone interested enough in the Rigmaiden family to take the FamilyFinder DNA test though I do understand that some may have chosen the Ancestry DNA route. If anyone wants to transfer their results to the FamilyFinder website from Ancestry I believe that this option is available. The cost of the Ancestry DNA test which is an autosomal one is £79 plus postage but they do offer special prices every now and again.

I have the sad news to relate that David Hedges, one of my earliest and most enthusiastic Rigmaiden descendants in the United Kingdom passed away last March. He was able to tell me many stories of the family of Edward Henley Rigmaiden and his children, most of whom were daughters, from direct recollection and experience. I must thank Nora, his widow, for taking the trouble to write to me to let me know.

As I move forward in putting the research into some sort of form I will be sending the primary source documents to the Society of Genealogists Library in London who keep a surname index collection relating to specific family studies.  There is already a box for the Rigmaiden family but when I last enquired there weren’t many documents in the box. My contributions will include civil registration certificates, wills, parish register extracts and so on.

Anyone who may be interested in researching a particular branch or aspect of the family may find something of interest there and, of course, the Society of Genealogists Library is the first port of call for geneaologists.

Lastly, I would like to thank all correspondents in this country and abroad who have contributed their own recollections and knowledge to this project and hope that it has inspired others to take up a One-Name Study, maybe their own family name, one that appears somewhere in their family tree or maybe a name that they have an interest in. The Rigmaiden profile which appears on the Guild of One-Name Studies website will remain. Many of us have at least one unusual surname in our family trees that may have piqued our curiosity and many of us may have more than one.

Obviously, it is not recommended to study a common surname particularly if you are working alone but some of the less unusual names have taken on by teams of people, looking at particular aspects. Sadly, the Rigmaiden family does not have any living descendants in the UK anymore but the name is more prevalent in the US.

The Guild of One-Name Studies is an excellent society to join and will give lots of help for those starting out. They offer local meetings, annual conferences, national seminars, a journal and a very helpful website.

For those who are more interested in local studies I understand that One-Place Studies are also possible projects which may involve a study of the village or town where you live or a village connected with your family.

Best wishes and Happy Christmas!

Julie Parker

Eighth Newsletter

Eighth newsletter of the Rigmaiden One-Name Study, November 2015

Julie Parker, Millbank Cottage, Winson, Gloucestershire GL7 5EW

Some of you may know of the exciting new Rigmaiden DNA Project that has recently been set up with the help of The Guild of One Name Studies under the auspices of the Familytreedna.com website.

I will be printing the text of the informatory letter that is currently being sent out to a number of male members of the Rigmaiden family here – if you happen to know of any who may be interested in the Project perhaps you could pass this on to them.

Attached to this letter is an interesting piece from The Gentleman’s Magazine published in 1830 regarding the discovery of a brass seal in Nottinghamshire. In the last newsletter I mentioned this item but, as I couldn’t put my hands on the original article, remembered it as being a ring. Enquiries to the Museum Service are ongoing.

Meanwhile here is the text of the DNA Project letter:

 I am writing to you regarding my family history research for the Rigmaiden surname.  If you are not interested in family history, please pass on this letter to someone in your family who is interested.

I have been researching the Rigmaiden surname, world-wide, for over a decade.   This type of research is called a one-name study, and I am a member of the Guild of One-Name Studies, London, England.  If you have access to the Internet, you can learn more about my research at the following web site: http://one-name.org/name_profile/rigmaiden/

From my research, I have built many Rigmaiden family trees.  As part of my research, I contact those with the Rigmaiden surname.   My objective, and that of the Guild, is to ensure that I have accounted for every Rigmaiden family tree.  In the course of my contacts with fellow Rigmaiden descendents, I have helped quite a few people around the world learn more about their Rigmaiden ancestry.  I provide family tree information from my research at no charge, and keep confidential any information you share about living members of your family tree.  I very much hope I will hear from you, so I can identify your family tree and share information with you regarding your family tree from my extensive research.   All I need to get started is any information you may know about your Rigmaiden ancestors.

As part of my research into the Rigmaiden surname, I am also the administrator of the Rigmaiden DNA Project.  This is a new genealogy project that has just been set up. Scientists have discovered that a small portion of the Y chromosome is passed from father to son, typically unchanged.  By testing this small area, you can determine if two men are related.  The test result is a string of numbers, and contains no personal information. 

The test is a harmless genealogy test.  A test kit is sent to you in the mail, and you swab the inside of your mouth.  You must be male to take this test, and have the Rigmaiden surname. If you believe there is a Rigmaiden in your direct male line, although you have a different surname, you are also welcome to participate.  If you are female, please find a direct line male to participate, to represent your tree.

I would like to invite a male from your family tree to participate in the Rigmaiden DNA Project, and represent your family tree.  As our project grows, we will have many exciting discoveries. We encourage males to order a Y DNA test for 37 markers, if possible.  If you order fewer markers, you can upgrade later, though this costs a little more.

Participating is an opportunity to uncover information not provided in the paper records, which will help with your research of your family tree. We will also discover which family trees are related.  As the project progresses, the results for the various family trees will provide information about the origin and evolution of the surnames.

The goals of the project are:

* Discover information to help with our family history research

* Discover which family trees are related

* Discover information to help with brick walls

* Confirm surname variants

* Validate family history research

* Get on file a DNA sample for trees at risk of extinction of the male line

* Discover information about our distant origins

You will be an exact or close match to those men to whom you are related.  By also testing a distant direct line male in your family tree, if possible, you will validate the family tree research to the common ancestor shared by both men who test.  In addition, the test result will tell you about your distant origins.

We have also established a General Fund, to accept donations in any currency via credit card.  These funds will be held at the testing company, and used to help sponsor test kits for key males who are unable financially to participate.  We encourage you to make a donation.  Click on the link below to visit the project web site, and then click "Contribute to the Project General Fund" on the left to make a donation. If you decide to donate, please specify "Rigmaiden Project General Fund" in the top box of the Donation form.

http://www.familytreedna.com/public/Rigmaiden

Both males and females may also be interested in learning about their direct female line, which would be their mother, their mother's mother, and back in time.  You would order a mtDNA test.  For matches in a genealogical time frame, order the mtDNA Plus test.

Recently introduced is the autosomal DNA test for both men and women which can identify common DNA signatures up to five generations back. This can help identify more distant relatives where you have GGGgrandparents in common from both your mother’s and father’s line of descent. On the Familytreedna.com website this type of testing is called Family Finder.

If you join the project there is the option to purchase the kits more cheaply via The Guild of One Name Studies in the UK or via FamilyTreedna.com, but if you are interested in the project and find the cost prohibitive we may be able to discuss this.

If you wish to order from FamilyTreedna.com via the Project the link is:

https://www.familytreedna.com/group-join.aspx?Group=Rigmaiden

I am looking forward to hearing from you.  If you have any questions , don’t hesitate to ask.

Seventh newsletter of the Rigmaiden One-Name Study, November 2015

Artists in the family: Mary and Ambrose McEvoy

Mary Edwards [full name Mary Augusta Spencer Edwards], born 1870 married artist Ambrose McEvoy in 1902. Mary was the 3^rd daughter of Spencer Henry Hutchins Edwards and Flora Campbell Bowie. Spencer Henry Hutchins Edwards was the eldest son of Benjamin Hutchins Edwards and Elizabeth Rigmaiden (daughter of Thomas and Margery Rigmaiden), thus Mary was the great grand-daughter of Thomas and Margery Rigmaiden of Liverpool.

She was born at the Edwards family home at Abbotsleigh, Freshford in Somerset on the 2^nd October, 1870. She studied at the Slade School of Fine Art in London and exhibited at the New English Art Club between 1900 and 1906 then painted no more, presumably busy with family life, until her husband died in 1927. She then exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1928 until 1937 and died at Abbotsleigh Cottage in 1941 whilst staying with her sister, Helen.

Ambrose and Mary had two children: Michael Ambrose William McEvoy, born in 1904 in Faringdon, Berkshire and Mary Annabel McEvoy, born on the 8^th August 1911 in London. In the 1911 census the family are recorded as living at 107 Grosvenor Place, Pimlico. Daughter Mary Annabel married Geoffrey Vyvian Arundell Seccombe-Hett in 1934 in Westminster who later represented Britain in the 1936 Olympic fencing team and the Seccombe-Hetts lived in Canada for a while. Son Michael does not seem to have married and died in London in 1966.

However, this is a digression from the painting theme as Ambrose McEvoy was also an  artist, though somewhat better known than his wife. At the age of 15 he entered the Slade School of Fine Art in London (he was born in 1878 so was 7 years younger than Mary). Ambrose’s father had been a friend of James McNeil Whistler who encouraged Ambrose in his artistic ambitions. At the Slade he became friendly with Augustus John with whom he shared a studio for a short time at 76 Charlotte Street. In 1898, when he was 20, he became involved in a stormy affair with Augustus John’s sister, Gwen John, also a well known artist. She was devastated when, in 1900, Ambrose broke off the relationship to become engaged to Mary Augusta Spencer Edwards.

Ambrose became particularly well known for his portraits, many of well known individuals of the day. In 1909 he went to Dieppe with Walter Sickert and his style became looser and broader. On his return he was much in demand as a portrait artist of fashionable society women, such as Consuelo, Duchess of Marlborough, Lady Diana Cooper and the actress Lilah McCarthy.

Although best known for his portraits he also painted landscapes. During the First World War he was attached to the Royal Naval Division and produced, after three months on the Western Front and some time with the Fleet in the North Sea, a series of portraits of naval officers now in the collection of the Imperial War Museum. He died in 1927 from pneumonia brought on by overwork and high living.

After his death Mary resumed her painting and one of her pictures ‘Interior: girl reading’ is owned by the Tate Gallery, others are in the City Gallery, Southampton and the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Dublin. Portraits of both of them exist – many by Augustus John of Ambrose McEvoy, and of Mary there is a pencil sketch by Augustus John in a private collection and a bronze bust by Jacob Epstein in the Leeds Museum Art Gallery. 

There is also a self-portrait of Ambrose which shows him to be an individual with a long face and large eyes.

Sketch of Ambrose by Augustus John

Self portrait by Ambrose

Photograph of Augustus John, Ambrose and Philip Wilson Steer

Self portrait by Ambrose

Portrait of Mary by Ambrose

Portrait of Mary by Augustus John

Bust of Mary by Jacob Epstein

Picture by Mary 'Girl reading'

Portrait of Winston Churchill by Ambrose

Portrait of Ramsay Macdonald by Ambrose

Portrait of Gwen John by Ambrose

[Ref: Oxford National Biographies and Pinterest]

Archaeological find

Just to fill the last page, a snippet from an old newspaper that I found told of the archaeological discovery of a gold ring in the Nottinghamshire area inscribed G[e]orge Rigmaiden- probably dating from the 15^th or 16^th centuries. I have contacted the local museum service for more information but it may be that the Rigmaiden in question may have been a descendant of the William Rigmaiden who was a JP and sherif in the area during the early 1400s and who lived at Blyth. 

Best wishes of the season and good luck with your family trees!

Rigmaiden Newsletter no 6

I am pleased that I am able to post the next instalment as promised of the Rigmaiden story, in this case the text of Thomas Rigmaiden’s will (1846-1803). I have transcribed the handwritten document and attach it with this covering sheet.

This is to be the last blog in this format, that is to say mostly factual with research to back it up, as I shall be putting together the information that I have collected over the years and hope to issue it in book form, so should anybody want to use any of the information contained in this blog please acknowledge myself as the source as is usual with copyright material. The newsletters so far issued will form the basis of the first six chapters of the book.

Future posts will be more 'newsy' so if anyone has any stories that they would like to be included let me know. Meanwhile the gist of the will is this:

Thomas appointed two executors to carry out the terms of his will,  that is his brother-in-law (his wife’s brother), John Jackson and his son-in-law James Dickson (married to his eldest daughter, Margaret). It sounds as though he is leaving his money and estate to the two afore mentioned but he later mentions that the monies raised from the sale of his properties and other property should be divided equally among his children when they marry or reach the age of 21, with the proviso that £500 should be deducted from the amount for his eldest daughter, Margaret, as she had that amount on her marriage in 1800 to James Dickson.

He also refers to John Jackson and James Dickson as guardians for his children who may be minors when he dies, and in fact this applied to all of his children except for the two eldest Margaret (married to James Dickson) and John (born 1872) – indeed his youngest daughter, Lucy, was only seven when he died.

He asks that the two executors invest the money for the minors in government securities or in mortgaged properties, the interest from which should be used to for the education and clothing of the children until they can inherit the capital.

He comments that he bought his ‘messuage with the garden behind’ in Liverpool from Richard Gerrard, Esquire, and that is where he was living when he made the will.

He mentions that Edward Kitchin of Worcester left him real estate and money which would go to him after the death of a Lucy Pattrick, wife of James Pattrick of Orsett in Essex should she have no children.

He also asks the executors to pay his Aunt Elizabeth Weld (or Wild) an annual sum of £15 for the rest of her life in six monthly instalments.

From some research on Ancestry I have found that Lucy Pattrick was born Lucy Kitchin and therefore is a relative of some sort of Edward Kitchen. She married James Pattrick on the 28^th April 1787 at St George’s, Hanover Square, Middlesex (London). They were bachelor and spinster and lived in the same parish.

I also think that Lucy was the same Lucy Kitchin that was baptised on the 10^th May, 1758 at St Helen’s in Worcester, her father named John and her mother, Mary.

An Edward Kitchin was baptised on the 27^th March 1748 in Blockley, Worcestershire whose father was John and mother was Ann so it is possible that Lucy was Edward’s sister or other relative.

I am not sure of the connection between Edward Kitchen and Thomas Rigmaiden except that Thomas’s mother’s maiden name was Kitchen so they could have been relatives of some sort – maybe cousins but that is only conjecture and one should avoid making too many unsupported guesses in family history!

From research it would seem that Lucy Pattrick died in October 1837 in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, though I have not obtained the death certificate, so it is probable that the remaining children would have waited quite a while for that portion of their inheritance.

Whether John Jackson and James Dickson dealt fairly with the children it will probably not be known, but it can be said that the two younger daughters, Elizabeth and Lucy Rigmaiden, made advantageous marriages to Benjamin Hutchins Edwards (to be a retired army Major) and Henley Smith (a man of law and inheritor of an estate on the Isle of Wight),respectively so it would seem that they were materially catered for at least.

Unfortunately, not all the sons suffered the same fate as these two sisters, as two of the brothers, Edward and Henry, who became wine merchants became bankrupts, and the eldest son, John, though supposedly a stockbroker, died a lunatic.

Here is a transcript of the will:

This is the last will and testament of me Thomas Rigmaiden of Liverpool in the County of Lancaster Gentleman which I make and publish this twenty first day of March one thousand eight hundred and three. I direct that all my just debts and funeral expenses and the charges of probate of this my will be first duly paid out of my personal estate. I give, devise and bequeath unto my brother-in-law the said John Jackson of Liverpool aforesaid Brazier and my son-in-law James Dickson and the survivor of them and the heirs executors administrators and assigns of the survivor all that my freehold messuage with the garden behind the same, and the lot of land some time since purchased by me from Richard Gerard Esquire all situate in Liverpool aforesaid and now in my own occupation – and also all and every the freehold leasehold and copyhold messuages tenements lands and heriditaments situate in the City of Worcester or elsewhere and all the other real estate whatsoever and wheresoever late the estate of Edward Kitchin of the said City of Worcester and by him devised and bequeathed to me and my heirs and assigns after the death of Lucy Pattrick wife of James Pattrick of Orsett in the County of Essex Yeoman and in failure of issue of the body of the said Lucy Pattrick by her said husband; and also all other  my freehold leasehold and copyhold estates wheresoever situate; whether in possession, reversion or remainder . And also all and singular my goods chattels money and effects of what nature kind or quality soever, and all such sum or sums of money as I shall  or may be entitled to under or by virtue of the will of the said Edward Kitchin after the death and in failure of issue or aforesaid – according to the nature and quality thereof respectively upon Trust as soon as conveniently may be after my decease to sell and dispose of my said freehold premises in Liverpool either by public sale or by private treaty for the best price which my said trustees can obtain for the same and to collect get in and convert into money all my outstanding debts personal estate and effects whatsoever by sale of such parts thereof as are in their nature saleable in such manner as they shall think fit . And when my revisionary property shall aforesaid shall come into possession by the happening of the contingency to which the same is subject – to sell dispose of and convert the same into money in the same manner as I have herein directed respecting my property in possession. And the monies to arise from the sales aforesaid to pay and divide unto and amongst all and every my child and children living at my death in equal shares and proportions (the sum of five hundred pounds being nevertheless deducted from the share of my daughter Dickson, she having received that sum on her marriage). The shares of such of my said children as shall be under twenty one or unmarried to be paid them upon their attaining  that age or marriage respectively whichever event shall first happen. Provided always and it my will that the shares of such of my children as shall be minors or unmarried at my decease shall be laid out and invested  by and in the power of my said trustees in government securities or on mortgage of real estates, and the interest or dividends thereof or so much thereof as shall be requisite shall be by them paid and applied in the maintenance education and clothing of such minor or minors and any surplus interest or dividends if any there shall remain shall be again laid out and invested as often as my said trustees  shall see fit and convenient, to accumulate the Capital of such minor or minors and it is my will that in case any of my children shall die under the said age and unmarried , the share of him or her so dying, shall be equally paid and divided amongst the survivors if more than one, and if but one then to such only survivor wholly. And I hereby will and declare  that the receipt or receipts of my said trustees on the survivor of them or the heirs executors or administrators of the survivor shall be a good and sufficient discharge to the purchaser or respective purchasers of all or any part of my said real and personal estates and after the purchase money paid and such receipt or receipts  so signed, the purchaser or purchasers shall not be obliged to see to the application of the monies therein expressed to be received nor be in anywise accountable for the non application or misapplication thereof , but that he and they and the premises herewith purchased shall therefore stand entirely freed and discharged therefrom. And I further declare , that my said trustees shall  not be answerable or accountable for any loss or damage that shall happen to my estate or effects in anywise, so as the same do not happen by or through their wilful neglect or default – nor shall either be answerable for the acts of the other , but each for his own only  and that it shall be lawful for them to reimburse themselves all costs, charges and expenses as they may incur or be put to in the execution of the trusts of this my will – and lastly I hereby nominate and appoint the said John Jackson and James Dickson executors of this will  and guardians of such of my children as shall be under age when I die – and I give to each of my said executors ten pounds as a compensation for their trouble in the creation of this my will and hereby revoke all former wills  by me, at any time heretofore made – and I recommend and empower my trustees to pay to my Aunt Elizabeth Weld  {Wild?] fifteen guineas yearly during her life by half yearly payments

In witness whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name and affixed my seal, the day and year first before written 

Signed sealed published and declared                                                    [Signed}

By the testator as and for his last will                                                      Thos Rigmaiden

And testament in his presence, at his request,

and in the presence of each other

[Signed] Mary Maine

                Jane Taylor        

                T Halsall

More about James

Another newspaper article much earlier than the last, this time in the South Bourke Standard for the 11th September 1863 mentions James again:

"Hawthorn Police Court, Tuesday September 8th
WAGES James Rigmaiden v Thomas Billing; work and labour 7s 6d. The plaintiff deposed that he was in the defendant's employ for a week at 8s a week and he had only received 6d. The defendant deposed that he only agreed to give the plaintiff what he was worth and he was not worth his food. He had offered him 3s a week. Verdict for 5s 6d and 2s 6d costs"

The judges were P O'Brien JP and W H Pettet JP.
Strangely enough, on the same day, there was a case against Thomas Herbert Power (in his absence) for letting two of his horses stray for which he was fined 2s 6d and 2s 6d costs.
Thomas Herbert Power just happened to be the father of James Rigmaiden's cousin through marriage, Herbert Power. I will be writing about the Rigmaiden descendants in Australia via the Hammill, Cunningham and Power families in a later post.

South Bourke was an electoral region east of Melbourne, Victoria, abolished in 1889.

Hawthorn is a suburb of Melbourne and according to Wikipedia:

 "The area was first settled in the late 1830s. The Boroondara Roads Board, the first municipal authority, was set up in the 1850s and covered a remarkably similar area to the present City of Boroondara. Boroondara is an aboriginal word reputed to mean place of shade. However, the Hawthorn Roads Board and the Kew Roads Board split from the rest of Boroondara in 1860. The HRB evolved into the Town of Hawthorn and the City of Hawthorn. The state government amalgamated the Cities of Camberwell, Hawthorn and Kew in 1994 to form the City of Boroondara.

The name Hawthorn, gazetted in 1840 as "Hawthorne", is thought to have originated from a conversation involving Charles La Trobe, who commented that the native shrubs looked like flowering Hawthorn bushes. Alternatively the name may originate with the bluestone house, so named, and built by James Denham St Pinnock (see Australian DNB), which stands to this day.^[2]

The region is generally regarded to be one of Melbourne's surviving bastions of post-Gold Rush expansion and today, one of Melbourne's most affluent and influential suburbs. Land values in the region are among the country's highest, with streets such as Hawthorn Grove, in the prestigious Grace Park Estate, straddling the suburb's northern boundary and Yarra Park's Coppin Grove in the west, located closer to theYarra River have been arguably the most sort after with properties commanding prices to match. Interestingly, there is also a considerable amount of student accommodation, due mainly to the presence of Swinburne University. This is located in the Hawthorn East and Auburnareas"

Back in James's day the estates referred to above would have been in their infancy.

Further mentions of James again in 1871, both in the newspaper The Argus (of Melbourne):

"Police: City Court, 31st March

MINOR OFFENCES: ....... James Rigmaiden who had been found standing naked except for his breeches in Carlton Gardens, was fined 40s or a month's imprisonment ....."

According to Wikipedia "The Carlton Gardens is a World Heritage Site located on the northeastern edge of the Central Business District in the suburb of Carlton, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

The 26 hectare (64 acre) site contains the Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne Museum and Imax Cinema, tennis courts and an award winning children's playground. The rectangular site is bound by Victoria Street, Rathdowne Street, Carlton Street, and Nicholson Street. From the Exhibition building the gardens gently slope down to the southwest and northeast. According to the World Heritage listing theRoyal Exhibition Buildings and Carlton Gardens are "of historical, architectural, aesthetic, social and scientific (botanical) significance to the State of Victoria."

The gardens are an outstanding example of Victorian landscape design with sweeping lawns and varied European and Australian tree plantings consisting of deciduous English oaks, White Poplar, Plane trees, Elms, Conifers, Cedars, Turkey Oaks, Araucarias and evergreens such as Moreton Bay Figs, combined with flower beds of annuals and shrubs. A network of tree lined paths provide formal avenues for highlighting the fountains and architecture of the Exhibition building. This includes the grand allee of plane trees that lead to the exhibition building. Two small ornamental lakes adorn the southern section of the park. The northern section contains the Museum, tennis courts, maintenance depot and curator's cottage, and the children's playground designed as a Victorian maze."

Aerial photo of the Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne and Carlton Gardens

"Police, City Court, 4th May

FELONIOUS INTENT: James Rigmaiden who, at four o'clock in the morning,  had taken the boots off a drunken man in Bourke Street was sentenced to three months imprisonment"

According to Wikipedia again: "Bourke Street is one of Melbourne's best known streets. Historically been regarded as Melbourne's "second street", with the main street being Collins Street and "busier than Bourke Street" is a popular catchphrase. Bourke Street has traditionally been Melbourne's entertainment hub. In its heyday it was the location of many of Melbourne's theatres, cinemas as well as a major retail shopping precinct. Today the street remains an entertainment hub best known as the location of the Bourke Street Mall, Melbourne's main pedestrian mall and one of the city's main tourist destinations.

Bourke Street is named for Sir Richard Bourke, the Governor of New South Wales (and thus, of Melbourne as well) in 1837 during the drafting of the Hoddle Grid."

Painting of Bourke Street in 1886 by Tom Roberts

And that is the last recorded event I have for James.

I contacted a genealogist in Australia to look into the prison records but she could not find anything to confirm whether he served his sentence as the prison record books for the period were missing. She did find out that in court he claimed to have arrived in Australia via the ship The Eastern Empire, but on looking into this further his name did not appear in the ships' crew or passenger list. I did find that there was more than one ship with that name; including one that had been shipping horses to troops in India.

I hope that the last record of him is not a prison conviction.

James Smith Rigmaiden (update)

Since my first post about James Rigmaiden I have uncovered some new information. I was lucky enough to find out about a website called Trove which is compiled by staff at the National Library of Australia and contains pages from newspapers, books, images and so on. I was surprised to find several entries about James there and, as they are so interesting, I will reproduce them here, firstly from the Melbourne Telegraph of the 21st February 1871:

A Colonial Leander
An extraordinary story comes from Sandridge. A man named James Rigmaiden, who is known as a good swimmer, whilst at Sandridge on Sunday, boasted that he could swim to Williamstown and back. His companions received the statement with a good deal of laughter, and after some badinage, Rigmaiden stripped and took to the water. Little attention was paid to him at first, but bye and bye, as he got further and further from the shore, his companions began to be afraid that he really meant to try the extraordinary feat. They watched him of upwards of  an hour until his head disappeared between intervening boats and the Williamstown shore. He started at about half past three, and an anxious watch was kept until after dark for his return. The conclusion was eventually arrived at that Rigmaiden was drowned, and his sorrowing comrades thought the wisest thing to do was to report the matter to the police. His clothes were accordingly collected and carried to the police station. The occurrence was duly entered into the police records and reported to the chief station. Next morning, however, to the astonishment of the police, the missing man, dressed in a sailor's suit, walked into the Sandridge station anxiously inquiring for his clothes. He stated that he swam to Williamstown, and after a short rest, without leaving the water, he started on his return trip. When about half way back and near the ship Chelsea he found that "there were sharks about" and, getting frightened, he made for the jolly boat of the Chelsea, fastened astern of that ship. He managed to get into the boat and shouted to those on board. A very fierce dog forms part of the crew of the Chelsea, which effectually kept Rigmaiden from ascending the side.The growling and disturbance made by the animal aroused those on board. The captain at last came on deck, and the poor fellow was assisted on board pretty well exhausted. He was well cared for, and next morning dressed in sailor's clothes and sent ashore

An incredible story! To this day there is held a "Big Bay Swim" every February between Sandridge (now called Port Melbourne) and Williamstown across Melbourne Bay and the estimated time of the swim is about 2 and a half hours, although some finish it sooner. Is it a coincidence that it is the same time of year as James Rigmaiden's swim - except he got a lift back and a rest in between!

This is Sandridge Beach these days in preparation for the Big Bay swim

Map showing Williamstown in relation to Port Melbourne

In the UK census of 1871 later that year his wife Catherine described herself as a widow - had she received a message about his supposed demise and not known it was a mistake. If James had been abroad for a long time she might have decided to call herself a widow - seven years was the usual period of time allowed to elapse - but did not bother to have it legally approved. Or was James just on a short trip to Australia. I have not yet been able to find out, but his companions seemed to know him well and were fond of him. 
More articles about James in the next post