Francis Pigott Stainsby Conant

Pigott was Member of Parliament (MP) for Reading for thirteen years[2] having won the seat from the Conservatives at the 1847 general election, being re-elected three times before resigning his seat. In addition Pigott was a Magistrate and a Lieutenant in the Hampshire Yeomanry.[1]

On 18 September 1860 Pigott received a letter from the Secretary of State for the Home Department, Sir George Cornewall Lewis, offering him the position of Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man which he duly accepted.[8] As a requirement of his appointment he was obliged to resign his parliamentary seat. This was undertaken and Pigott was succeeded by Sir Francis Goldsmid.

Francis Pigott succeeded Charles Hope[9] to the governorship of the Isle of Man, being formally appointed on 22 October 1860.[10]

Following his appointment as Lieutenant Governor Francis Pigott arrived at Douglas, accompanied by his wife and eldest son, on board the steamer Tynwald on Saturday 10 November 1860. Upon disembarkation, Governor Pigott was greeted by various local dignitaries,[11] and taken by carriage to his temporary residence at the Castle Mona.

The official Swearing-In Ceremony took place at Castle Rushen, performed by the Deputy Governor on Monday 12 November.[12]

Governor Pigott's duties included presiding over the Isle of Man's Court of General Gaol as well as the Chancery Court. In December 1860 Governor Pigott became patron of the Isle of Man Agricultural Society.[13]

In the spring of 1861 the Island's principal courts transferred from Castletown to Douglas making Governor Pigott the last Lieutenant Governor to preside over the principal courts in Castletown.[14]

In the early 1860s various attempts were being made to source land around Castletown on which a new residence for the Island's Lieutenant Governor could be built. However a strong consensus favoured moving the Island's political home from Castletown to Douglas, and this was shared by Governor Pigott.[15] Tynwald, the Manx Parliament, allowed Governor Pigott to select his own residence, and he chose the Villa Marina, the former estate of Colonel Robert Steuart and which had until recently been the venue of a seminary boarding school. A lease was negotiated on the premises for seven years, at a rent of £250 annually, with Governor Pigott taking residence in May 1861.[15]

Foundation stones

During his governorship Francis Pigott performed various civic roles which included the laying of numerous foundation stones.

On 8 July 1861 Governor Pigott laid the foundation stone of Saint Olave's Church, Ramsey, an occasion which saw him presented with a silver trowel.[16] Another foundation stone was laid on 25 September for a new Wesleyan day school in Peel.[17] A further occasion saw Governor Pigott laying the foundation stone at the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel at Sandy Gate, Jurby.[18]