The Bigg-Wither Family

Archibald Cuthbert Bigg-Wither

Birth: 25 September 1844, at Tangier Park, near Basingstoke, Hampshire, England

Baptism: 6 November 1844, in Wootton St Lawrence, Hampshire, England

Father: Lovelace Bigg-Wither

Mother: Emma Jemima (Orde) Bigg-Wither

Education: Temple Grove School, Surrey, and Marlborough College. In 1865 he entered the Thomson Engineering College for Officers at Roorkee, India, and passed with honours, gaining two gold medals and a thousand rupees.
Marlborough College Register (1905) p127
Entrances in August, 1859
Bigg-Wither, Archibald Cuthbert, s. of the Rev. L. Bigg-Wither, Tangier Park, Basingstoke, b. Sept. 25, 1844; l. Mids. 1861. B 2
   Lieut.-Col. A.C. Bigg-Wither, Tiltham's, near Godalming
 Bengal Inf. 1862; Lieut-Col 1888; Ret. 1896; Superintending Engineer, Quetta, Beloochistan, 1890-6

Married: Caroline Maria Rolston on 7 November 1871, in Lezayre, Isle of Man. Archibald is listed as aged 27, and Caroline as aged 21.

Children:
Occupation: Officer in the Indian Army and Royal Engineers
At the age of seventeen Archibald went to India, and was attached to the 52nd Light Infantry as an Ensign for regimental duty. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 25 January 1863 (London Gazette 28 March 1865 p1736) and joined the 3rd Punjab Infantry. He was appointed in 1866 to the Public Works Department as Assistant Engineer in the Central Provinces. In 1868 he was placed in charge of roads, bridges, and railways in the Central Provinces, the most important being the Grand Trunk Road from Nagpore to Jubbulpore. In 1872 he was appointed Personal Assistant to the Chief Engineer of the Indus Valley Railway, with headquarters at Mooltan, where he remained for seven years. After two years' leave Archibald was sent to Julpaiguri as Executive Engineer, and on 2 January 1882 he was promoted to major (London Gazette 14 April 1882 p1697) and was transferred to Calcutta as Superintendent of Works. Three years later, Major Bigg-Wither was promoted to the rank of Superintending Engineer, and transferred to the Frontier Province of Baluchistan, with headquarters at Quetta, where he was stationed for seven years, under the late Sir Robert Sandeman. He brought water into Quetta, and accompanied his chief into the newly acquired country of Zhob, where he built forts and bridges, and the Civil and Military buildings. He also reopened the old and important trade-route through the Gornal Pass. For these services he received the thanks of the Government of India. Archibald was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel on 2 January 1888 (London Gazette 20 March 1888 p1710).
  In 1894, after two years' leave, Colonel Bigg-Wither was sent to Assam as Supertintending Engineer and Secretary to the Chief Commissioner, but he returned to Bengal in 1895. He retired in 1896.

The India Office and Burma Office List p203
BIGG-WITHER, ARCHIBALD CUTHBERT, Lieut.-Colonel, Public Works Department, Government of India. -  Appointed assistant engineer from Thomason College, Oct., 1866; after serving in the Bengal Infantry from Jan., 1862; executive engineer, Sept., 1871; served chiefly on the Indus Valley State Railway, and in Baluchistan from 1885, where he was employed on the frontier road circle in 1888; secretary to agent to governor-general, Baluchistan, and 3rd superintending engineer, May, 1890; 2nd, July, 1891.

Notes: In The Baluch and Afghan Frontiers of India reproduced in The Living Age 1889 p290, Sir Charles Dilke recalls meeting Archibald in the Zhob.
On this day we parted with Colonel Archibald Bigg-Wither, the officer who made the road; a simple and charming frontier-man for whom a villa at Wimbledon would have more delight than an Indian palace, but who sticks to the frontier and his duty in spite of the sharp contrast between his own civilization and the roughness of the life.

Death: 23 September 1913, on the Isle of Man.

Buried: 25 September 1913, in Lezayre, Isle of Man.

Obituary: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society February 1914 pp269-271
ARCHIBALD CUTHBERT BIGG-WITHER was born on 1844 September 25 at Tangier Park, near Basingstoke. He was the ninth son of Lovelace Bigg-Wither of Manydown and Tangier Parks, Hampshire, where the family had resided since the fifteenth century. On his mother's side he was the great-grandson of Guy Carleton, first Baron Dorchester, one of the makers of Canada. He was educated at Temple Grove School, Surrey, and at Marlborough College.
  At the age of seventeen he went to India, and was attached to the 52nd Light Infantry as an Ensign for regimental duty. In the following year he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and joined the 3rd Punjab Infantry.
  In 1865 he entered the Thomson Engineering College for Officers at Roorkee, and passed with honours, gaining two gold medals and a thousand rupees. He was appointed in 1866 to the Public Works Department as Assistant Engineer in the Central Provinces. On his return to India in 1868, after a short absence on leave, he was placed in charge of roads, bridges, and railways in the Central Provinces, the most important being the Grand Trunk Road from Nagpore to Jubbulpore.
  While on sick leave in England in 1871 he married the younger daughter of Capt. Rolston, of the Madras Army. On his return to India in 1872 he was appointed Personal Assistant to the Chief Engineer of the Indus Valley Railway, with headquarters at Mooltan, where he remained for seven years. After two years' leave he was sent to Julpaiguri as Executive Engineer, and in 1882 was transferred to Calcutta as Superintendent of Works. Three years later, Major Bigg-Wither was promoted to the rank of Superintending Engineer, and transferred to the Frontier Province of Baluchistan, with headquarters at Quetta, where he was stationed for seven years, under the late Sir Robert Sandeman. He brought water into Quetta, and accompanied his chief into the newly acquired country of Zhob, where he built forts and bridges, and the Civil and Military buildings. He also reopened the old and important trade-route through the Gornal Pass. For these services he received the thanks of the Government of India.
  In 1894, after two years' leave, Colonel Bigg-Wither was sent to Assam as Supertintending Engineer and Secretary to the Chief Commissioner, but he returned to Bengal in 1895. He retired in 1896, and settled near Godalming, in Surrey, where he was much devoted to cycling.
  Colonel Bigg-Wither was from early youth an enthusiastic astronomer. He had an observatory of his own for nearly 45 years, containing a 5-inch telescope and a transit circle, which was in constant use for observations of all kinds. At Quetta and Mooltan his observatory was the scientific centre of the Civil and Military stations. After a long day in the Public Works Department he would be invariably found in the midst of calculations or working with his instruments till the night was far advanced. In 1874 he observed the transit of Venus in perfect weather, and scores of persons flocked to his observatory to watch the passage of the tiny black disc across the sun. His observations were published in Mem. R.A.S., vol. xlvii. p. 97. As the sun rose with Venus already on the disc, there was no obsservation of ingress, but remarkable phenomena were recorded at internal contact at egress.
  After his retirement, Colonel Bigg-Wither resumed his astronomical work, and frequently attended the meetings of the Society. He also attended many of the meetings of the British Association, including those held in South Africa and Canada.
  He died in the Isle of Man on 1913 September 23, leaving a widow, two sons, and a daughter.
  He was elected a Fellow of the Society 1869 January 8.

Census:
1881: Crouch Oak Road, Chertsey, Surrey
1911: Hambledon district, Surrey

Sources:

Dora Margaret Helen Bigg-Wither

Birth: 11 March 1902

Baptised: 30 March 1902, in Chaderghat, Madras, India

Father: Lionel Bigg-Wither

Mother: Annie Evelyn (Lush) Bigg-Wither

Sources:

Ferdinand Bigg-Wither

Birth: 29 August 1872, in India

Baptism: 26 September 1872, in Mooltan, Punjab, India

Father: Archibald Cuthbert Bigg-Wither

Mother: Caroline Maria (Rolston) Bigg-Wither

Education: Clifton College, Clifton, England; Royal Military College
Clifton College Annals and Register 1860 - 1897 p326 (E.M. Oakeley, 1897)
Bigg-Wither, F. Son of Col. A. C. BIGG-WITHER, Public Works Department, India. Grenfell-Tait. 3a-5y; left April, 1890. Lieut. London Regiment.

Married: Muriel Macleod on 22 June 1907, in Moulmein, Burma, India. Ferdinand is listed as aged 34, single, the son of Archibald Cuthbert Bigg-Wither, and Muriel as aged 20, single, the daughter of Donald Grant Macleod.
Muriel was born in 1886/7, the daughter of Donald Grant Macleod and Alice May Limouzin.

Occupation: Army Officer in the Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) and Indian Staff Corps.
Ferdinand was made Second Lieutenant in the Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) on 21 January 1893 (London Gazette 20 January 1893 p331). In 1896, he was with the 1st Battalion based in Kurrachee, Bombay province (Army List 1896). Ferdinand was promoted to Lieutenant on 27 November 1896 (London Gazette 2 March 1897 p1256), then transferred to the Indian Staff Corps on 20 February 1897 (London Gazette 16 July 1897 p3976). Captain Ferdinand Bigg-Wither was promoted to Major on 21 January 1911, noted at the time to be in civil employ (London Gazette 7 March 1911 p1963). On 22 September 1914, Ferdinand was transferred to the supernumerary list after completing ten years in civil employ (London Gazette 13 November 1914 p9284). Ferdinand retired with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel on 29 August 1927 (London Gazette 2 December 1927 p7746).

Notes:
Ferdinand wrote A Guide to the Study of Shan, published by the American Baptist mission press in Rangoon, in 1911. The Shan language is spoken by the Shan people, mostly in what is now Myanmar.

Death: 4 May 1954, on the Isle of Man.

Census:
1881: Crouch Oak Road, Chertsey, Surrey

Sources:

Helen (Bigg-Wither) Hind

Birth: 1874, in Surbiton, Surrey, England

Baptism: 19 August 1874, in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, England

Father: Archibald Cuthbert Bigg-Wither

Mother: Caroline Maria (Rolston) Bigg-Wither

Married: Henry Hind in 1909, in Hambledon district, Surrey, England

Census:
1881: Crouch Oak Road, Chertsey, Surrey

Sources:

Lionel Bigg-Wither

Birth: 31 December 1876, in India

Baptism: 20 January 1877, in Mooltan, Punjab, India

Father: Archibald Cuthbert Bigg-Wither

Mother: Caroline Maria (Rolston) Bigg-Wither

Education: Clifton College, Clifton, England; Royal Military College
Clifton College Annals and Register 1860 - 1897 p354 (E.M. Oakeley, 1897)
Bigg Wither, L. Son of Col. A. G. BIGG WITHER, Quetta, Beluchistan. Carter, Tait. 3a-4b; left April, 1892.

Married: Annie Evelyn Lush in 1898, in Kingston district, Surrey, England

Children:
Occupation: Mechanical Engineer in the Indian State Railways
Lionel joined the service on 11 March 1898. He was made assistant locomotive superintendent of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway in July 1902, and deputy locomotive superintendent in March 1917. He was employed with the military from 25 October 1917, and on 13 December 1918 he was granted the relative rank of Lieutenant-Colonel whilst emploed as Assistant Director of Railways (London Gazette 5 August 1919 p10066). On 31 March 1920, Lionel was granted the temporary rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the 2-13th Great Indian Peninsula Railway Battalion, of the Indian Defence Force (London Gazette 13 July 1920 p7462), which appointment he relinquished on 30 September 1920 (London Gazette 8 March 1921 p1902).

Death: 27 October 1959, in Malta

Buried: 29 October 1959, in Ta'Braxia cemetery, Malta

Census:
1881: Crouch Oak Road, Chertsey, Surrey

Sources:

Lionel Guy Bigg-Wither

Birth: 1898, Tonbridge district, Kent, England

Father: Lionel Bigg-Wither

Mother: Annie Evelyn (Lush) Bigg-Wither

Death: 25 September 1899, aged 1

Buried: 26 September 1899, in Kirkee, Bombay, India

Sources:

Lionel George Arthur Midward Bigg-Wither

Birth: 1899/1900

Father: Lionel Bigg-Wither

Mother: Annie Evelyn (Lush) Bigg-Wither

Married: Nora Violet Tobin on 14 January 1942. Nora was born on 14 January 1910, and baptised on 30 January 1910, in Bhamo, Burma, India, the daughter of Alfred Edward Tobin and Winifred Charlotte.

Death: 2 February 1990

Sources:

Vivian Bigg-Wither

Birth: 24 December 1884, in Ramsey, Isle of Man

Father: Archibald Cuthbert Bigg-Wither

Mother: Caroline Maria (Rolston) Bigg-Wither

Death: 19 December 1885, aged 1

Buried: 19 December 1885, in Quetta, Belochistan, India

Sources:
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