This is the content of the first group newsletter as it was originally written without any edits:

Newletter of the Rigmaiden One-Name Study, December 2011

For this first issue of the Rigmaiden newsletter I have decided to look at the origins of this decidedly unusual surname. I have included extracts and comments from a variety of sources, highlighted in bold, concerning the origins of the family name and place name. There are a number of variant spellings but the most common modern version is Rigmaiden with Rigmaden being reserved for the Hall near Kirby Lonsdale. In older documents the name appears as Rygmaiden or Rygmayden with other deviations occurring less frequently. Although source no 4 mentions occurrence of the family name in Lincolnshire documentary evidence fails to back this up.

1. An armorial for Westmorland and Lonsdale by R S Boumphrey and C Roy Hudleston; J Hughes with a foreword by Roger Fulford. Lake District Museum Trust; Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, 1975.
p250 'RIGMADEN, of Rigmaden. The Rigmaden family held land in Mansergh between 1260, when Richard de Rigmaidin and Alica his wife released land to Nicolas, son of Roger de Manesergh, and in 1546, when John de Rygmayden and Mary his wife conveyed a tenement to George Banegrygg (Farrer ii  375-85). Arms. Argent three stags' heads couped sable (NB i 252)
RIGMAIDEN. The Rigmaidens were the principal resident family in Middleton (L)from the end of the 15th century to until the death of William Rigmaiden, 1608. William Rygmayden of Woodacre, Garstang, was constable of Lancaster Castle, c1400. Arms Argent three bucks' heads cabossed sable (VCH1. viii 74 ; Shield in Shire Hall, Lancaster). These arms were born by Thomas Rigmayden, temp, Edward 1 (FFC)'

2. The place names of Westmorland by A H Smith. Part 1. Cambridge University Press, 1967.
p51'Rigmaden Fm, Rig(g)-, Ryg(g)maiden, Rygge-, -mayd- 1255 LAInq, 1292 Ass 19. 1301, 1344, Kend i, 138, 1316 FF, 1345 Cl, 1pm et passim to 1738 Rent 1, Rigmaddin 1610 Kend ii, 424, -maden 1647 WilsonL, 1656 PR(KL) et freq to 1865 OS. 'The maiden's ridge', v. hryggr, maegden. This p.n is an inversion compound, a Celtic (Irish) type of composition introduced into NW England from Ireland by Norwegian Vikings (cf Ekwall, ScandsCelts 13ff); several other examples like Wath Sutton, Satearngrim, Crosscrake, Rigg Brunild, Brigsteer, CrossDormant, etc. (i, 57, 62, 99, 109, ii, 210 etc.) occur in We (v Introd.)

[Abbreviatons used above:
LAInq Lancashire Inquests, Extents and Feudal Aids, ed by W Farrar, Lancashire & Cheshire Record Society, 1903-7.
Ass Assize roll, 1256(CW xiii, 67-78)
Kend Records relating to the Barony of Kendal ed W Farrar & J F Curwen, CWRec, 4,5,6, Kendal, 1923-6.
FF Feet of Fines 1196-1659, in PRO (CP 25)
Cl CAlendar of Close rolls, PRO, In progress
Rent 1 Rentals & Surbeys in the PRO
WilsonL R P Brown. Edward Wilson of NetherLevens and his kin CW Tract series12, 1930
OS Original 1" Ordnance Survey map

3. Place names of Great Britain and Ireland by John Field. David & Charles, 
p? 'Rigmaiden [Westmorland], 'maiden's ridge' a hybrid name compounded in the order associated with Norse settlers from Ireland, viz with the qualifying element following the main component (cf Aspatria ) [Rig(g) maiden 1255: ON hrygger , OE maegden]

4. The general armoury, 
p857 'Rigmaiden (Wedacre, [County] Lancaster; [Heralds' Visitation] Lancaster 1557). Ar. three bucks' heads cabossed [sable]. Crest a buck's head erased [sable]
Rigmaiden ([counties] Lancaster & Lincoln). Ar three bucks' heads cabossed sa.'

5. A history of surnames of the British Isles ...by C L'Estrange Ewen. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co, 1931.
p341 'Rigmaiden. Local. A locality and seat in Westmorland.

Rich. Rigmayden, Lancs 1245  (Fines : Farrar)

Thom. de Rigmayden Lancs, 1377. (Cl. R)
J Rigmeydon, courssourman, 1509. (Letters & Papers, Brown)
Isabel Rigmaiden, Staff. 1547. (Pat. R)
Francis Rigmaydon, bur 1595 (St Francis, Cornhill)
A H Rigmaiden, Liverpool, 1930, Dir. 

Lower curiously derives this surname from a nickname given to a 'romping girl'. Having once become obsessed with the idea that surnames are derived from vulgar epithets, discovery of origin becomes easy. Probably Joyemaiden (Cambs, 1275: Hund. R) has as simple an origin as Rigmaiden. Maden is a local surname.

6. English placename elements by A H Smith Pts I & II. Cambridge University Press, 1956.
In this work Smith treats the two components of the name separately:
v1 p267 "hryggr [Old Norse] a ridge [or long narrow hill] , used in the same way as hryeg which it sometimes replaces, as in Rigton [West Yorkshire], a) Ribby [Lancashire] (by), b)Rigmaiden [Westmorland] (maegden), b) Brownrigg [Cumberland] (brun), Crossrig [Cumberland] (Cros), Bigrygg (bygg), Louthrigg (lauk) [Cumberland], Eskrigg (esk), Hazelrig (hesli) [Lancashire], Lambrigg [Westmorland] (lamb), Marrick [North Yorkshire] (mkrr)"
v2 p32 "maegden [Old English] a maiden
(1) This [element] generally denotes 'a maiden, a young unmarried woman', in [pronouns] usually in allusion to places owned by them, to places thought suitable for their use, or to places which they habitually frequented (as in lanes or at bridges, fords and the like), as in [pronouns] incorporating words for 'youth', like cild, cniht, sometimes to places owned by religious females.
(2) The use of the word with burh and castel is fairly widespread .... [eg Maiden Castle] .. In a few instances like Medbury ... where there is no evidence of earthwork or old fortification, it may simply denote 'a manor held by maidens', but usually such places are the sites of ancient earthworks. In many of them the suggestion that they signify 'a fortification so strong that it could be defended by girls' or 'one that has never been taken' would no doubt be possible but this kind of description would hardly be applicable to some of the earthworks which must have long passed into disuse when these names were created. The sense may well be that implied by other names like the common Love Lane (cf Maiden Lane [otherwise] Lovers Lane in Penrith [Cumberland] ....), in other words 'a place frequented by maidens, a secluded place where maidens could indulge their fancies unobserved'.
... in maege [Old English] the name also encompasses 'kinswoman'

7. Surnames by Ernest Weekley. John Murray, 1918.
Weekly explains in his foreword that the first attempt at anything like a history of surnames was Lower's Patronymica Britannica published in 1860. He continues " Lower seems to have been a genial antiquary, with a good deal of miscellaneous information, but no serious knowledge of European languages. ... He knew, however, something about the general history of surnames and had read all that had been written in English on the subject. Some of his suggested etymologies are rather funny ...  [Lower writes]:
"Rigmaiden Two gentry families, settled respectively in Counties Lincoln and Lancaster, bore this remarkable name, which at the commencement of the present century [the 19th] was still extant. I can give no better etymology for the name ..... than 'a romping girl'"
..... Rigmaden is a seat in Westmorland, and the local surname ..... de Riggemaiden can be easily attested from the medieval records of the north. "

8. East Lancashire nomenclature and Rochdale names by H C Marsh. 
Interestingly here we are told
p21 "Some of the places called 'maiden', such as 'Maden Fold' and 'Rigmaden' mean meadow; as well as Green Middens Farm ...   The acre [from the Anglo-Saxon] signified corn-land; while as a measure it was as much as might be ploughed in a day. We have such words as Barnacre ..."
The manor held by the Rigmaiden family in medieval times was Wedacre [Woodacre] or Barnacre, just outside Garstang in Lancashire - an interesting coincidence?.

I am currently revising the postings which I have made in the light of new information. Since my last posting I have been issuing a Rigmaiden One-Name Study newsletter to anyone interested. In case there are interested parties who do not want to contact me directly I will post the Newsletter content on here - so far there are five issues. The first three go back quite a long way, back to the beginnings and origin of the name. Any comments welcome.

Elizabeth Rigmaiden bc1815

Elizabeth Rigmaiden was married to James Dickson on the 19th June 1837 (source FamilySearch website). They married by licence, a copy of which I have obtained from the Cheshire Record Office. It is probable that she is a grand-daughter of Thomas Rigmaiden mentioned elsewhere on these pages, by one of his sons, probably Edward from her birth date. She would almost certainly have been born in Liverpool but it is just possible that she was born abroad as her father and grandfather were both merchants. I have found the couple in the census records for 1841 and 1851. In 1841 they lived on Gloucester Street, Liverpool, James being a wine merchant. They had two daughters Catherine Jane (b1838) and Elizabeth Hannah (b1840). They had one servant. In 1851 they lived at Severs Street, Everton and had now three more children: Edward Rees (b1842); James Ensor (b1843) and Margaret (b 1844), all born in Liverpool. This census records that James Dickson senior was born in Ambleside in the Lake District and was now a master mariner (shipping clerk).
By 1861 eldest daughter Catherine has married George Rushton Woods and they were living at 14 Havelock Street, Everton. George was a mariner born in 1830 in Liverpool. They had at this time one son, Edward R Woods, one year old. Also living there are Catherine's mother, Elizabeth (as above) and three brothers: Edward Rees, now a cook, James Ensor, clerk, and new addition John Boardman Dickson, aged 10. There is an entry for Elizabeth's husband James as a patient at Liverpool Royal Infirmary, Brownlow Hill, occupation warehouse porter.
There is no obvious record for Elizabeth's daughters, Elizabeth Hannah and Margaret, in the 1861 census but there are several possibilities.
An Elizabeth Dixon, aged 20 is working as a servant for the family of William Reid, a ship broker from Scotland, living at Higher Bebington on the Wirral, but it is a common name.
There is no obvious trace of Elizabeth or James in the 1871 census, perhaps James was the James Dickson who died in 1861 in Liverpool according to the GRO indexes.
Of James and Elizabeth's children the second daughter, Elizabeth Hannah, dies unmarried in 1913 in Liverpool, after acting as housekeeper for her sister Catherine and family (1881 census) and brother-in-law George after Catherine's death (1891 census). In 1901 and 1911 she was living with Catherine's married daughter Margaret (her niece) at 11 Rickman Street, Kirkdale.
Of the eldest son Edward Rees there is no further mention in the censuses or other sources checked so far. Next son, James Ensor, dies in 1866 at the age of 22.
Third son, James Boardman, is also elusive but there are census records for a John Benson Dickson - could he have changed his name? There is a christening record on FamilySearch for John Benson Dixon, parents James & Elizabeth Dixon, 15 May 1862 at St Peter's Liverpool, but this would mean that John was baptised, many years after his birth, as young boy. There is no record of the birth of a John Benson Dickson in the GRO indexes. This individual married Alice and they had many children according to the censuses.
Youngest daughter Margaret Dickson/Dixon is difficult to trace, as her name was not uncommon, and there are a number of possibilities.
Elizabeth and James's eldest daughter Catherine and her husband George Rushton Woods had at least seven children of whom at least two died young: Ensor Rushton Woods (1886-1881) and Frank Rushton Woods (1881-1881). Of the surviving children, the eldest Edward George Rushton Woods married Mary Ellen Blackler in 1892 in Newton Abbott in Devon. He became a pawnbroker and jeweller, moving to Devon later in life where he died in 1933. In his will his effects were worth nearly £11,000. They do not appear to have had any children. The eldest daughter, Elizabeth Amy Rushton Woods married Richard Lloyd, a commercial traveller, in 1898 but had died by 1911. They do not appear to have had any children. The second daughter Margaret Rushton Woods married Thomas Sweeney but by 1911 she was a widow.They do not appear to have had any children. The youngest surviving son Walter followed his father in the pawnbroking business and by 1911 he was living at 11 Rickman Street, Kirkdale with his widowed sister Margaret and spinster aunt Elizabeth. Daughter May Woods was christened on the 17th October 1864 at St Peter's but there is no further mention of her in the censuses, but no burial record so far.
I will obtain a copy of Edward George Rushton Wood's will which may shed some light on survivng members.

Rigmaiden Family History Blog: Maggie May Rigmaiden, born 1874

Margaret May was the second child of Edward and Mary, and was born in 1874, in New Ferry on the Wirral, Cheshire.

Rigmaiden Family History Blog: Catherine's children: Mary Ann or Annie

Mary, or Annie as she was later known, was born in 1881 and first appears in the known paper trail in the 1881 census living in Etna Street, Old Swan, Liverpool with her mother Kate

Rigmaiden Family History Blog: Marian Rigmaiden, born 1873

Marian was born in New Ferry, Cheshire in 1873, the eldest child of Edward and Mary Rigmaiden. Edward was James Smith Rigmaiden's younger brother and their children would have been his nephews and nieces.

Rigmaiden Family History Blog: Catherine Rigmaiden's children: Catherine

Catherine was born on the 28th October 1874 according to the birth certificate which we believe to be hers.

Rigmaiden Family History Blog: James & Catherine Rigmaiden's children : William

William Rigmaiden was born in the Union Workhouse, Mill Road, Everton on the 13th January 1863.

Union Workhouse, Mill Road

Rigmaiden Family History Blog: James Smith Rigmaiden and Catherine Almond

James Smith Rigmaiden and Catherine Almond married on the 17th June 1861 at St James' Church, Walton-on-the-Hill, Liverpool, England. Their address was 4 Pickering Street, Liverpool. It was not uncommon for bride and groom to give the same address as this would mean only one set of banns had to be published. She was 19 years of age and he was "of full age". In fact, he was 21, the eldest son of Edward Rigmaiden who, at that time, was described as a law clerk - in fact he worked for HM Customs and Excise.

St James's, 1823

Rigmaiden Family History Blog: Welcome

Welcome to the Rigmaiden One-Name Study blog which is the result of a study registered with the Guild of One-Name Studies in 2009. The study includes families related by marriage, and their descendants where relevant. Rather a lot of information has now been accumulated and this blog shall, hopefully, be a means of disseminating that to anyone interested, and extending the information contained on the Guild's profile page. The first English Rigmaidens can be traced back to 13th century north Lancashire and Westmorland. At least three separate individuals emigrated to the United States from the 18th century onwards, and the descendants of one individual's Loiusiana family are now quite extensive. Australia was the destination of one female Rigmaiden who married in Calcutta to a member of the Hammill family, their four children were the beginning of an extensive family of descendants through the female line in the Melbourne area.
My personal connection is with the Liverpool branch of the family, in particular with James Rigmaiden who married my great great grandmother, Catherine Almond, in 1861. I will enlarge on this branch of the family in my next blog.