Those of us with less common surnames take
great delight in spotting others of the same name. Baggs is not a common name,
but there are many Baggs families around the world and we have been lucky enough
to have heard from many of them through the Internet. However, we have never met
a Baggs in person who wasn't related to us - that is something no Jones or Smith
can say.
There is much interest in tracing the Baggs family name - it seems to be a family trait. Some time ago we were fortunate enough to come across Benjamin Beck's excellent web site. Ben has put a terrific amount of effort into tracing his family origins, and we discovered that he and Steve share great-great-grandparents, Henry and Elizabeth Baggs. That makes us third cousins, and because of all the work Ben has done Steve can now trace his forebears back for 500 years. Since then, using Ben's research, we have been able to identify some distant relatives among people who have contacted us through this site.
John
Baggs from London has also researched the family name.
John's site contains a host of useful links - especially for those from the
United States - as well as some ancient family history.
The Baggs family seems to have originated from the Oxfordshire / Berkshire / Hampshire area. Steve's paternal grandfather came from Hannington in Hampshire, and within living memory the name Baggs was so common there that people were addressed by their forenames - Mr Henry, Mr William - with the family name of Baggs being assumed because it was so common. Steve's grandfather moved to Bristol when he married in 1900, and Steve's father was the youngest of 11 children - so a new branch of the Baggs family was born in the west country.
If you too are a member of the Baggs clan, then please let us know via the contact page.