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East Devon and West
Dorset is the region in England with the highest concentration of
Pidgeons. County boundary changes sometimes switched a village from one
county to the other. Sometimes a family would move a few miles across the
boundary, so that the history of the Pidgeons in this area is divided
between the two counties (and sometimes also spreading over into
Somerset).
Basil Pidgeon of Bideford, Devon and his cousin
Jean Harris of Toronto, Canada have been researching the Devon
Pidgeons for many years. Much of the early information on the families
below came from their researches of Devon Parish Registers. Where Basil is mentioned as a contributor,
it is possible that Jean has
also contributed, but I don't know to what extent.
In many cases, research into a family started
elsewhere in England or Wales, but eventually led back to roots in Devon or
Dorset.
Pidgeons of Axminster
This tree has been
moved - it now forms a part of the
Pidgeons of Honiton (John) tree.
Pidgeons of Cullompton
John PIDGEON and Ann BOWER were married in
Cullompton, Devon in 1748. Many of
their descendants remained in Cullompton, but some emigrated to the USA
(Oil City, PA and the state of New York) and one son travelled to
Stockport, Cheshire where he founded the Pidgeons of Stockport
Pidgeons of Exmouth (Irish family)
This family came from Ireland, stayed for a short while at Exmouth and
then moved on.
Pidgeons of Honiton
(John)
There were two Pidgeon families of Honiton.
In 1732 John PIDGEON
and Ann HODY were married at Hawkchurch, Devon where two of their
five children were baptised. But they went to live at Honiton which
is where many of their descendants were born and lived, including a large
FILDEW family. Emily Pidgeon, the young cross-country runner
from Gloucestershire is descended from this family.
Pidgeons of Honiton
(Daniel)
In 1746 Daniel PIDGEON
of Sidbury married Elizabeth POOKE of Cullompton at Rockbeare.
Daniel and Elizabeth continued to live at Sidbury, but most of their
children moved into the larger town of Honiton or nearby Offwell.
Pidgeons of Kenton
In 1780
Joseph PIDGEON married Sarah ELSON in Kenton, which lies about
5 miles south of Exeter on the west bank of the Exe estuary. Several
generations of this family continued to live in Kenton, but others
migrated via Dorset to Hendon, Middlesex and some emigrated to Waikeikei,
New Zealand.
Pidgeons of Powderham & Kenton
In 1779
Jasper PIDGEON married Elizabeth BOWCHER in Kenton. They
settled a mile to the east in Powderham, but their descendants have
migrated all over Devon and some to Swindon, Lincolnshire and Norfolk.
Those who went to Lincolnshire changed the family name to PIDGEN.
Or perhaps it was changed for them by the registrar in Grimsby, because
the same thing happened to another another family who briefly visited
Grimsby.
Pidgeons of Kilmington (2 miles
from Axminster)
John PIDGEON was born in Kilmington, Devon in 1741. He first
married Elizabeth ASH in Axminster and then Susannah FRENCH
in Kilmington. His son James (by Susannah) moved to Bridport, Dorset where
he married Sarah BUDDEN. The descendants of James and Sarah spread out to
London, the Isle of Wight, Hampshire, Somerset, Staffordshire, Lancashire
and Yorkshire.
Pidgeons of Plymouth
James PIDGEON probably
came from Devon, crossed the river at Plymouth into Cornwall, and married
Grace WILLS there, in the village of Antony. Most of his
descendants still live in this corner of Cornwall, near Plymouth, although
a few have emigrated to Australia and Canada.
Pidgeons of Stockland
About 5 miles
NW of Kilmington lies the village of Cotleigh. Here, in 1793, another
John PIDGEON married Mary SANSOME. John and Mary, however,
settled in the village of Stockland, which is about 3 miles NE of
Cotleigh. Many of their descendants remained within 10 miles of Stockland
and Axminster, but others settled in Queensland, Australia.
Pidgeons of Thorncombe
Also in Cotleigh, in 1758, Richard PIDGEON married Hannah
PARSONS. They first moved to Yarcombe, 2 miles north of Stockland,
then to Membury, 2 miles east of Stockland. Finally, most of the family
settled in Thorncombe, Dorset, a further 6 miles east of Stockland.
From here their descendants dispersed to Chardstock, Chard and Hawkchurch
(all within 5 miles of Thorncombe) and then to places such as Bristol,
South Wales and Nottingham.
Pidgeons of Hawkchurch & Thorncombe
About half way between Thorncombe and Axminster lies the village of
Hawkchurch. These two small family trees have been compiled solely from
the parish records of Hawkchurch and Thorncombe, census returns and PRO
indexes. Whether they are related to each other, or to other
families in the area remains to be seen.
Pidgeons of Torquay
In 1813 John PIDGEON of Sidbury and Mary SMITH of Hennock
were married at Bovey Tracey. For several years afterwards they
lived at Lustleigh, but by 1828 they had moved to the parish of Tormoham
(now Torquay), Devon.
One of their descendants was involved in a domestic
murder! |