The Stilgoe Family

 

This important and valuable archive of The Stilgoe family has been compiled and edited by Rob Forsyth & Jon Malings with considerable assistance from Anthonie Stilgoe.

Coat of Arms

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Editor's note: The shield is upside down in this image made in 1738 a copy of one made for Zachariah Stilgoe (d.1669)


Description by College of Heralds:
Arms
Argent, a chevron cottised gules, between three falchions (or curtilaxes), proper, hilts and pommels or. Mantling gules and argent.Crest - On a wreath of the colours, an arm embowed proper, holding in the hand a falchion (or curtilaxe), as in the arms, and tied at the elbow with a ribbon gules. Motto - " Malo mori quam foedari".(Proved "user" of arms, and ped. reg'd. at H. Coll. since 1668)

Contents

The Stilgoe family have a long history connected with the parishes of Deddington and nearby Adderbury, dating back to at least the 16th century.This article tries to bring together in one place as much information as we could gather from the family and public domain. We do not claim that it is a fully comprehensive record but, hopefully, will prove of great interest to our community and be of help to local researchers looking for source material. There is undoubtedly a book to be written one day but this is not it!

Sources:

Mrs Mary VaneTurner. Her book The Story of Deddington , written in 1933 for a Women's Institute competition, relied heavily on information provided Mr Henry Edward Stilgoe CBE FSA (1867-1943) who had researched his family and was a member of The Antiquarian Society. He was also London's Water Engineer. Extracts from Mary's  book are used extensively within the article and are attributed by name or marked (MVT).

Mr John Anthonie Stilgoe (b. 1935 - great nephew of Henry Edward Stilgoe) is custodian of many of the family documents and artifacts. This article could not have been compiled without his extensive knowledge and patient help. Attributions to him are marked by name or (AS). He also compiled the original Family Tree(s) which we have adapted for a website display. Examination of the Family Trees show that there are many common names - 16 Zachary or Zachariah Stilgoes - so all Stilgoes are identified by (year of birth and/or death) after their names.

Mr Hugh Robert Nathaniel Stilgoe (b.1944 - brother to Anthonie) who farms the Stilgoe family farm known as Adderbury Grounds just to the north of Deddington.

Sir Richard Henry Simpson Stilgoe (b.1943 - grandson of Henry Edward Stilgoe and cousin to Anthonie) has written about his family in an article entitled Zach.Stilgoe - For ever. Extracts are attributed by name or marked (RS).

The National Archives at Kew and Oxford Records Office also hold many documents. These are marked NA: or ORO: followed by the  Reference Number. Possibly one of the most useful contents is the very comprehensive list of wills which are being slowly transcribed; blue coloured links are provided to those transcriptions completed.

Images.  These have been variously sourced from the family, ourselves and from Colin Cohen - a long time member of Deddington & District History Society. We are grateful to them all.

Acknowledgements

We are most grateful to all our sources for permission to use their material.