(Captain) Thomas Wiggin, c. 1590-1666, birth place unknown, death in Stratham, New Hampshire, a town he founded.

Hi there,

I have had a quick search of the Scottish records for 1580 to 1600 and there are no Wiggins (or obvious corruptions thereof) returned. the problem with this might be that the birth records for where he was born do not go back that far.

Did he marry in Scotland or once he was in New Hampshire? Is there any idea of what his (or his father's) occupation was before he emigrated?

I am guessing that it may be easier to sort out where he was from if we can actually find some Scottish records for him.

Cheers,
Clare

A change of thought about Scotland is required in that you are trying to find a birth place of a Puritan (English protestant) whose history across the pond is so well documented with various places and dates being put forward as to his place of birth in England. A wild card indeed looking for Strath** in the Scotland

He had a first(s) marriage(s) that we know nothing of, nor of any issue there of. His last wife was Katherine Whiting (sister to Maj./Gov William Whiting of Colonial Conn.) whom he wed in 1633 in London, before returning to New Hampshire for good.

We know nothing of his parents. He's a true brick wall !! It's strange when we know so much about the other Mass. Bay Colonly magistrates and early settlers, that Capt./Gov. Wiggin would slip through the cracks. You'll find at least five claims of "roots" for him on the internet....all without any supporting source records and all based on his known associations to other immigrants. A sort of "cutting the toes off to make the shoe fit" !!

Since the town he founded was named Stratham, NH, it is worth the time to try for Scottish roots for him, even though we also don't know if he had any hand in naming that town. He also names his first son Andrew. That's a good Scots name !! You don't find many south of the border excepting in the border counties and Ireland.

His accepted birth date is based on his marriage application to Katherine wherein his bondsman states he's 41 (in 1633) and a widower. So, I would not rule out a birth year of 1590-1593. He could have been fudging on his age as he's marrying a woman ten years his junior. Maybe he was vain !!

Also, the spelling used more often in Scotland in that era was QUIGGIN/Quiggan/etc, or so the books say.

Thanks for having a go at this Clare. It does help me.

Was he Puritan, or did he jump on a bandwagon !! Also, when did he become Puritan; at birth or later in life. He was over 40 when he came to the Colonies.

We also don't know why he was called "Captain". So far no ship or ship's owner has been linked to him. There is a questionable letter written in 1627 by Sir Drake in which he off handedly says "...Capt. Wigan seeks a letter of marque against the French....", but again, there's no proof this is our Capt. Thomas Wiggin. He could have gotten the rank of Captain in any of numerous situations. So other than a coastal craft he used in the Colonies to travel up and down the New England coastline (after all, there were no roads) in his role as magistrate and probably trading at the ports, there is no known tie to any ship.

Yep, it's a wildcard play...but when you have nothing in the first place, wildcards are good !!