Marcus Bicknell writes… “Since I have been keeping an eye on Bicknell history since the 1970s, it has been clear that there were three principal branches of the Bicknell family in Britain, originating from before 1066. We now have maps of Britain and the world which give us a better feel for the distribution of our family.”
In ancient Anglo-Saxon England, the ancestors of the Bicknell surname lived in one of two places. Some bearers of the surname Bicknell derive their name from the parish of Bickenhill, which lies seven miles from Birmingham in the county of Warwickshire. Other members of the family come from the parish of Bickenhall, otherwise known as Bicknell, which is near Taunton in the county of Somerset. https://www.houseofnames.com/bicknell-family-crest
The map of Britain above certainly confirms the branches of the Bicknell family which we have identified, 1) in Warwickshire (the north central dark green area), 2) the Farnham and Haslemere Bicknells (the south-eastern dark green area) and 3) the Taunton, Barriangton and Woolavington Bicknells of Somerset (the two counties of mid-green in the southwest).
You can see how Bicknell families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Bicknell family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1840 and 1920. The most Bicknell families were found in the UK in 1891. In 1891 there were 218 Bicknell families living in London. This was about 17% of all the recorded Bicknell’s in the UK. London had the highest population of Bicknell families in 1891. Marcus is in touch with many Bicknells in Australia and New Zealand, some of them closely related “Taunton” Bicknells
These posts are brilliant! Where do you find the writers?
Curious to know what happened to the original Beacon Hill origins thesus, and would be fascinated to learn of any new findings or details from before 1066, and up to around 1400 ….
Hi Steve, thanks for the comment.
The URL links in the next paragraph ARE live even though they don’t look it!
Did you look through the two posts https://bicknell.net/on-beacon-hill-no-1-the-origins-of-the-bicknell-family/ and https://bicknell.net/on-beacon-hill-8-controversy/ ? I think these are the sum knowledge of the medieval past of the Taunton/Bridgwater/Woollavington Bicknell. We can put this topic forward to historians in the family, I would also be so pleased to hear from you if your own research turns up something new.
I have emailed you as well.
Regards from Marcus