"We Are Braver And Wiser Because They Existed, Those Strong Women And Strong Men… We Are Who We Are Because They Were Who They Were. It’s Wise To Know Where You Come From, Who Called Your Name." - Maya Angelou


The Smith family and the Nice family are second generation Eastbournians. 

Previous generations have hailed from Suffolk, Hampshire, & London, on the paternal side, and London, Hampshire, and Eastbourne, on the maternal side.

At least three generation ago we started emigrating to all corners of the planet, particularly to Canada, and today our family can be found in the USA, New Zealand, Australia, France, Austria, and of course... the UK.

There were no Nices in Eastbourne before we arrived and even the name Smith wasn't  that common, but the Bignells seem to have been in Eastbourne from its' very humble  beginnings - by 1800 the town's population still only numbered 1600.

Rumours of Scottish ancestry and Huguenot roots abound... but as of 2023 only the Scottish maternal ancestry can be confirmed.

However, an ancient Pictish-Scottish family was the first to use the name Nice, which  is the name for someone who lived in any number of places called ness, which  means headland. 

And, there is also a belief that the name came from the personal  name Ness, as during the middle ages scribes wrote according to sound, leading to  many compromised translations and interpretations.


"You Live As Long As You Are Remembered. "