A great many of the members of the Coig family, who belonged to the most ancient
Scottish nobility, moved to France due to religious persecution in their native
land during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, in the XVI century, and settled
in the city of Oloron, capital of the district of Haut-Béarn, where they owned
their castle or principal house.
The nobleman Alexius de Coig was named, "Proconsul
and First Judge" in 1594, and then Honorary Guardian of the Church of Sainte
Croix, in which he had his own chapel with his coat of arms. He married in Oloron
with Jeanne de Veillenave.
Their son Barthélémy de Coig et Veillenave, was
Lord of Moureu, Proconsul and Lay Abbot of the Parish of Plasencia. He married
in 1621 with Thérèse de Medeville, daughter of Antoine de Medeville, Lord of
Sainte Colome. From this union was born their son:
Jean de Coig et Medeville, second Lord of Moureu
who married on the 29th of September of 1666 with Maríe de Lanne et Poncavare,
daughter of Joseph de Lanne, Lord of Gurmansone.
Their son was Joseph de Coig et Lanne who moved
to Spain in 1720 and founded the Spanish branch of the family.
Other members of the family remained in France and their descendants live there
to this day, but we (the Spanish Coigs) know very little about them. Eventually
some French Coigs migrated to the United States settling mostly in Louisianna
and California.
The information in this section is largely derived from several military records
that were kept in various registers in Spain.
More information can be found by following these links: