Heanor Piggin: The Ancient Origins

Descendants of Oliver PIGGIN of Codnor, Derbyshire he married Elizabeth Ludlam (-1578, Heanor) he died 1577
Heanor is a large ancient parish in Derbyshire with its church and principal centre located on Heanor Hill. (See Google Map). The northern part of Heanor parish was termed the manor or lordship of Codnor and the Piggin family appears to have been confined to this Codnor area, so that it would be more accurate for us to speak of the Codnor Piggin family. Daniel Lyson's Magna Britannia (1817) states that Heanor's townships were Heanor proper, Codnor, Codnor Castle, Codnor Park and Shipley with the villages of Langley, Loscoe, Milnhay and Shipley Wood. Property records from the Jacobean era show the Piggin families of Ockbrook and Elvaston owned land at Loscoe; this is so close that we must assume they were kindred of the Heanor Piggin family. Unfortunately, there is comparatively little documentation about these lands at Loscoe, so the issue cannot be further investigated. The manor of Codnor takes its name from Codnor Castle. A part of its ruins seems to still exist, but the structure was evidently torn down many centuries ago. Opposition in 2013 and 2014 to a housing development which encroached on what remained of Codnor Common led to the formation of the Friends of Codnor Common, who have their own campaign website which is also informative.		The Oliver above is likely to have been connected in some way to Oliver Piggin, the vicar of Heanor till 1547. Perhaps he was the vicar's nephew: there are no plausible grounds to assume the two men were identical. The vicar very probably died in 1547, since there is no reason to suppose he would have retired, but we have no burial record. The younger Oliver's death is recorded in the parish registers thus: "1577, Oliver Piggen of Codnor was buried XIIIJth day of Marche" and later "1578 Elizabeth Piggen, widow of Codnor, was buried the XXIJth of Septembe." The text of the will suggests that Elizabeth had been previously widowed and brought the two Ludlam children into her union with Oliver from her previous marriage. Will of Oliver Pyggen of Heanor 1578 April 7 mentions: 1. sister Jhone Essinggolde [?] 2. John Ludlam my son in law [meaning stepson?] and Elizabeth Ludlam my daughter in law 3. daughter Elnor Pyggen 4. Eliz Pyggen my wife and John Pyggen my son Executor: wife Overseers: Rob. Sutton, Ric. Bonsall Witnesses: Lawrence Broke vicar Heynor, Rob Sutton, Ric. Bonsall Note: Laurence Brookes had been vicar of Heanor since 1565.
Family Group I: descendants of John (the son named in Oliver's will above: he was probably a minor in 1578) % Elizabeth Smith 1612 at Allestree The dates make this John somewhat uncertain: "he" might in fact have been two persons, father and son. Probably the Johannes Piggen of Codnor noted in the 1633 List of The Vills and Freeholders of Derbyshire. year of death unknown
A. John * 1618 % Elizabeth --- + 1702 or 1707 The will of John Piggin of Codnor, yeoman, 1708 April 23, mentions wife Eliz son John Piggin daughter Sarah wife of Christopher Coleclough of Langley, butcher	John * 1654 % Deborah Pynigar ( -1694) in 1678 at Heanor (three of the children at right are mentioned in 1724 will of Nehemiah Pynnigar: "to Mr Christopher Coleclough of Codnor Castle, £10 each to dispose to Deborah Piggin and William Piggin and £5 more to John Piggin and £5 to Daniell Piggin". (Who was William? We assume was father to William of Bulwell, and would assume he was born about 1705, though the William born at Denby (below) would also be a good fit)	John * 1679 Heanor % Elizabeth Sowter 1701 Kirk Hallam	Elizabeth 1701- was she the one who % Richard Ufton 1723 Crich?
			John 1705-
			Mary 1709- may have % John Falkonbridge 1733 Heanor
			Hannah 1714-
			Sarah 1714-
			William 1721/08/08-	William 1748/06/13 believed to be the ancestor of the Bulwell family
		Joseph 1681-1684
		Anne 1683-1684
		Daniel * 1687 Heanor did he marry Ann? and father ... ?	Deborah * 1727 Nottingham High Pavement Presbyterian % Thomas Watson 1750 Nott. St Nicholas
		Joseph 1689-1704
		Deborah -1694
		William, known only from will at left, has been postulated by Tina Negus as the Skeffington Piggins' ancestor, but this is doubted by others
	Sarah % Christopher Coleclough 1677 Heanor: nine children listed in Tina Negus chart 7 she + 1710, he + 1715 leaving will
B. William of Langley * incomplete baptismal entry? % Alice --- before 1628 He paid Heanor hearth tax in 1662 + 1676 Heanor ("William Piggin of Langley") Note that the 1680 will of John Stansby of Clements Inn, Middlesex leaves a ring apiece to "my old friends Elizabeth Linney and Ellen Colclough, the daughters of William Piggen of Langley"	Elizabeth * 1628 % John Linney in 1673 at Heanor (Elizabeth Piggin of Langley) might be daughter of William left or John above
	Ellen * 1631 % John Coleclough Tina writes: John Coleclough died in Heanor in 1694: his will records his wife Ellen, though his first wife and the mother of the children was Katherine who died in 1663. Ellen we now know was Wm Piggins' daughter, I did not know her surname. This John Coleclough's son Christopher married Sarah Piggin [above] in 1677. She was the dau of John Piggin, who was probably the bro of William of Langley. Elizabeth who married John Linney, I had thought, was possibly also the daughter of John Piggin, but we now know [for sure] she too was William's daughter. A right inbred lot they were. The same names crop up in almost every generation which makes interpretation difficult.
	John * 1633 (who is: William, son of William PIGGIN of Codnor, baptized at Denby Mar 10, 1685/4)
C. Alice * 1610 Codnor
D. Ann * 1613 Codnor
Group II: Oliver's older children, named in his will above, who did not continue the Piggin surname
I. Eleanor (as per will above) born about 1555
II. John Ludlam born about 1555 This would appear to be the testator in the 1641 nuncupative will of "John Ludlam alias Piggin" of Morton, husbandman. It mentions: eldest daughter Marie a youngest daughter, not named Witnesses: Lawrence Cowper alias Brigham, William Smith etc. Probate to Marie .... Ludlam alias Smith
A. Marie
III. Elizabeth Ludlam born about 1555 % Thomas Walker 1579 Heanor

Loosely based on Tina Negus's family-reconstitution chart 6

Descendants of the Loscoe family are shown on the Elvaston page. The Loscoe Piggins' precise relationship to Oliver Piggin of Codnor is unknown, but the proximity of Loscoe and Codnor makes such a relationship likely.
Thomas Piggin of Crich (+1687) could conceivably be a descendant of this family group

Piggin property is not shown on the oldest Codnor maps (DRO D2360/3/104a) in Derbyshire Record Office, which were drawn up 1792 at the time of the enclosure of the common land of the Lordship of Codnor. One of the four maps is reproduced in sections in Fred Thorpe's The Heritage of Codnor and Loscoe. [Archive] Derbyshire Record Office D2360/3/104a - date: 1792

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* ... born
~ ... baptized
% ... married
+ ... died/buried
a/b/c/d ... 1st/2nd/3rd/4th quarter of year