14 Views of Old Adelaide from Sketches in 1840-1849 by S.T. Gill, F.R. Nixon, S. Calvert and O. Korn

Edgar Smith Wigg (1818 - 1899)

Wigg was an Adelaide bookseller and stationer and founder of the firm E. S. Wigg and Son. A son of Richard Wigg (c. 1790–1856), of Tunstall, Suffolk, he commenced work as a bank clerk and developed a book club for the benefit of his fellow workers. Sensing an opportunity, he opened a bookshop in Warwickshire. He married Fanny Neale Morewood of Atherstone, Warwickshire in September 1846. Their first child, Edward Neale Wigg was born in 1847 and shortly afterwards they migrated to Australia, perhaps seeking a healthier climate, leaving on the William Hyde on 29 January 1849 and arriving in Port Adelaide in May 1849. He rented a shop at 4 Rundle Street and started manufacturing account books. In August 1857 the business moved to larger premises at 12 (later renumbered to 14) Rundle Street and a decade later founded a purchasing office in London. He opened a pharmacy at 34 King William Street. He served on the City Council from 1871 to 1874 and from 1876 to 1880, then retired from business, handing it over to his eldest son E. Neale Wigg and his son-in-law W. L. Davidson. He maintained a close relationship with the North Adelaide Baptist Church and the Institution for the Blind.

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