The Piggotts originally came from France. In France, the surname was spelled quite differently; the original name was Picquette, which steams From the Old-French personal name Pic added by an -ot and occasionally an -et. The Picquettes left France and went to England with the famous William the Conqueror . William the Conqueror, who was the Duke of Normandy and was the great-grandson of the famous Viking 'Rollo', crossed the English Channel with 7000 men and became the great Norman conqueror of England. In 1066, at the battlefield of Hastings in Sussex County, William defeated the Anglo-Saxon claimant, thus uniting the country into a feudal monarch and ending Saxon rule forever . Consequently, French, which was William the Conqueror's native language and the language of Normandy, became the language of the English court . The Picquette lived peacefully in England for centuries. During this time period, the Picquette anglicized their name to Picot, which later became Piggott and Pickett. I have checked some of the many records available on England and have found several that date back to the eleventh century about the time of the Norman invasion of England. There was a Picot de Grantebrige in 1086 ; Pichot de Lacele circa 1155 ; Pigotus de Hutun ; Robertus filius Picot in 1166 ; Roger Picot in 1086 ; Robert Picot in 1140 through 1145 ; William Piket in 1177 ; Waubert Pyket in 1277 ; and Peter Picot, Pycot, Pygot in 1285 . The following are variants of our surname found in England: Pickett, Picot, Pikett, Pykett, Piggot, Piggott, Pigot, Pigott . According to the Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, the word Picket comes from the French word piquet and from Middle French from the verb piquer--to prick, which is a direct descendant of picacare from Vulgar Latin . Furthermore, according to a dictionary of surnames, Pigott and Pigot are English variants of Pickett, which mean one whose face was pitted or pockmarked. The Piggotts lived happily in England, free from religious persecution to the time of King Henry VIII. Then, sometime after the death of King Henry VIII, his daughter the famous Queen "Bloody Mary", took over the crown and turned the nation back over to a Catholic country. Once again the persecution against them began, so many of them left England and went to Wales. After the death of Bloody Mary, Elizabeth took over the crown as Queen of England and once again restored England back to a Protestant nation. This was the time period known as the English Renaissance. The population of England was about five million people. The Piggotts surely took pleasure from partaking in activities of the time such as sports, entertainment, diversion and merrymaking--the very things that were so greatly discouraged upon under the rule of Queen Bloody Mary. Furthermore, in the early 1600s economic times soon hit hard for the common farmers, serfs and peasants, who had become restricted from the lands that their grandfathers had farmed centuries before. The lords of the lands sought after larger and quicker profits from the grazing of sheep for wool. These poor yeoman left their homes and sought refuge in large cities where industry thrived. Moreover, many formed trading companies and left England seeking to start a new life in the New World. John Piggott was born around 1680 in England. Sometime around the turn of the eighteenth century John Piggott left England and immigrated to America. Tradition has it that John Piggott was a close relative to the Royal Family, was closely associated with the throne of England and was a friend and associate of William Penn. Moreover, John Piggott settled in Pennsylvania. On March 14, 1705 at the Concord Monthly Meeting in Chester County Pennsylvania, John Piggott married Rebecca Hardiman, who was born around 1684. The Piggotts had three children: Mary, Rebecca, Hannah. It is not known what happened to Rebecca but in 1711 she died. On January 18, 1713, after having obtained clearance from the church, John Piggott remarried to Margery Brown, who was born in 1691 in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Margery is the daughter of James and Honour (Clayton) Brown. The Piggotts had thirteen children: James, Margery, John, Samuel, Elizabeth, Abigail, Susannah, Jeremiah, William, Jeremiah, Benjamin, and Margery. William Piggott, who is the son of John and Margery (Brown) Piggott, was born on June 8, 1726 in Pennsylvania. In 1750, William Piggott married Sarah Pike, who was born on Febuary 26, 1733 in Pasquotank County, North Carolina. Sarah is the daughter of John and Abigail (Overman) Pike. Margery Piggott, who is the daughter of William and Sarah (Pike) Piggott, was born on Febuary 5, 1750 in Orange County, North Carolina. Margery Piggott married Thomas Ward.