Bixbay History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Early Origins of the Bixbay family

The surname Bixbay was first found in Suffolk and Nottingham where they held a family seat from ancient times, long before the Norman Conquest in 1066.

One source notes that the family could have been from Bigby, a parish, in the union of Caistor, S. division of the wapentake of Yarborough, parts of Lindsey, in Lincolnshire. 1

To the south in Devon, we found this interesting entry for the family: Bigbury [in the parish of Modbury] was held by lords of that name as early as the reign of John ; and after nine descents was brought by a coheiress to one of the Champernownes of Beer Ferrers, from whom it descended through the Willoughbys to the Paulets. There is a fifteenth-century Bigbury brass in the church." 2

Early History of the Bixbay family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Bixbay research. Another 53 words (4 lines of text) covering the years 1695, 1792 and 1881 are included under the topic Early Bixbay History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Bixbay Spelling Variations

Sound was what guided spelling in the essentially pre-literate Middle Ages, so one person's name was often recorded under several variations during a single lifetime. Also, before the advent of the printing press and the first dictionaries, the English language was not standardized. Therefore, spelling variations were common, even among the names of the most literate people. Known variations of the Bixbay family name include Bigsby, Bixby, Bigby, Bigbury, Bigsbury and many more.

Early Notables of the Bixbay family

John Jeremiah Bigsby (1792-1881), English geologist and physician, eponym of the Bigsby Medal; and Sir Thomas Bigsby. Angel Bix (d. 1695), was a Franciscan friar, who "after filling the office of confessor to the Poor Clares at Aire...
Another 36 words (3 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Bixbay Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Migration of the Bixbay family

For political, religious, and economic reasons, thousands of English families boarded ships for Ireland, Canada, the America colonies, and many of smaller tropical colonies in the hope of finding better lives abroad. Although the passage on the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving, those families that survived the trip often went on to make valuable contributions to those new societies to which they arrived. Early immigrants bearing the Bixbay surname or a spelling variation of the name include: Joseph Bixby who settled in Massachusetts in 1620; Robert Bigsby settled in Virginia in 1731; Thomas Bigby settled in Tobago in the West Indies in 1775.

The Bixbay Motto +

The motto was originally a war cry or slogan. Mottoes first began to be shown with arms in the 14th and 15th centuries, but were not in general use until the 17th century. Thus the oldest coats of arms generally do not include a motto. Mottoes seldom form part of the grant of arms: Under most heraldic authorities, a motto is an optional component of the coat of arms, and can be added to or changed at will; many families have chosen not to display a motto.

Motto: Ad astra
Motto Translation: To the stars.

Sources +

Barber, Henry, British Family Names London: Elliot Stock, 62 Paternoster Row, 1894. Print.
Worth, R.N., A History of Devonshire London: Elliot Stock, 62, Paternoster Row, E.G., 1895. Digital