Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 05.djvu/35

 and Edward hesitated long. At last, at the parliament of Lincoln, the charters were fully confirmed, 14 Feb. 1301.

Throughout these events Roger Bigod had been a prominent figure; but no sooner had the object of the struggle been attained than his power appears to have collapsed. Humphrey Bohun had died in 1298, and the loss of his support to Bigod no doubt made it easier for the king to deal summarily with the survivor. In 1301 the Earl of Norfolk made the king his heir, and gave up the marshal's rod; and on 12 April 1302 he surrendered his lands and title, receiving them back in tail on 12 July following. Seeking for a cause for this surrender, the chronicler Hemingburgh has ascribed it, not satisfactorily, to a quarrel between Roger and his brother John. Roger Bigod died on 11 Dec. 1306, without issue, and, in consequence of his surrender, his dignities vested in the crown. He married twice: first, Alina, daughter and coheir of Philip Basset, chief justiciar of England in 1261, and widow of Hugh le Despencer, chief justiciar of the barons; and, secondly, Alice, daughter of John II d'Avesne, count of Hainault.  BIGSBY, JOHN JEREMIAH (1792–1881), geologist, born at Nottingham 14 Aug. 1792, was the son of Dr. John Bigsby. He studied medicine at Edinburgh, where he took the degree of M.D. in 1814, and published a 'Disputatio de vi arsenici vitiosa.' Soon afterwards he joined the army as a medical officer, and served at the Cape in 1817. In the following year he was sent to Canada, where he chiefly developed his interest in geology. In 1819 he was commissioned to report on the geology of Upper Canada, In 1822 he became British secretary and medical officer of the Canadian boundary commission. Five years later he returned to England, and practised medicine at Newark, Nottinghamshire. There he remained until 1846, when he permanently settled in London. He was elected a fellow of the Geological Society in 1823, and of the Royal Society in 1869. In 1874 the former society presented him with the Murchison medal. In 1877 he presented to the Geological Society a sum of money to provide for a gold medal to be called after him, and to be awarded biennially to students of American geology under forty-five years of age. He died at Gloucester Place, London, 10 Feb. 1881.

Bigsby was the author of: 1. 'A Lecture on Mendicity,' Worksop, 1836. 2. 'Seaside Manual of Invalids and Bathers,' 1841. 3. 'The Shoe and Canoe,' 1850; a narrative of travel in Canada. 4. 'Thesaurus Siluricus: the flora and fauna of the Silurian period, with addenda from recent acquisitions;' a very laborious compilation, published with the aid of a Royal Society grant in 1868. 5. 'Thesaurus Devonico-Carboniferus: the flora and fauna of the Devonian and Carboniferous periods,' 1878. Bigsby had nearly completed a 'Permian Thesaurus' at the time of his death. The Royal Society's Catalogue of Scientific Papers' (1800-73) gives the names of twenty-seven by Bigsby, almost all treating of American geology. His earliest paper, 'Remarks on the Environs of Carthage Bridge, near the mouth of the Genesee River,' appeared in Silliman's 'American Journal' for 1820. His later papers were contributed to the 'Geological Society's Transactions,' to the 'Philosophical Magazine,' and to the 'Annals and Magazine of Natural History.'  BIGSBY, ROBERT, LLD. (1806–1873), antiquary, was the only son of Robert Bigsby, registrar of the archdeaconry of Nottingham, which office, we are told, he held for upwards of thirty-one years. 'He had the honour,' according to his son, 'to be a frequent guest of the illustrious Washington while visiting America in 1787.' His son was born at Nottingham in 1806, and was educated at Repton school. Disappointed in the legal prospects to which he had been brought up, he turned his attention to the study of antiquities, and began to collect materials for a history of Repton. He was then residing at Wilfrid Cottage, Ashby-de-la-Zouche, having left Repton, where he had stayed for eleven years. The greater part of his life was spent in the accumulation and reproduction of archæologic material. He died 27 Sept. 1873 at 4 Beaufort Terrace, Peckham Rye, aged 67.

Bigsby distinguished himself as a virtuoso or collector of curiosities, 'relics and memorials,' as he calls them, of 'illustrious characters.' Amongst his most cherished possessions was Drake's astrolabe. This astrolabe, constructed for Captain (afterwards Sir Francis) Drake, prior to his first expedition to the West Indies in 1570, and subsequently preserved in a cabinet of antiques belonging to the Stanhope family, was 