Edgar Smith Wigg was an Adelaide, South Australian bookseller and stationer, founder of the firm E. S. Wigg and Son. A son of Richard Wigg, 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 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.
Siblings of E. S. Wigg
Two brothers of E. S. Wigg migrated to Australia in the 1850s, as did a widowed sister, who arrived on the maiden voyage of the Clipper Torrens in 1876 and lived in North Adelaide.
R Horace Wigg arrived in South Australia with his wife Elizabeth "Bessie" and son on the barque Lady Bruce in October 1853 and established a wholesale grocer's and wine and spirit store on King William Street, became "R. H. Wigg & Sons" in 1876. Their children included:
Edward Neale Wigg bookseller and chairman of directors BHP 1890-1913 Edward Neale Wigg married Janet N. Davidson on 6 September 1871.
Jessie Ann
In November 1853 he married Alice Lane who came from Boscombe, Devon. They had no children. In November 1855 he married Jane Eccles ; they had two boys and four girls:
Henry Higham Wigg also a medical practitioner, married Lillie Margaret Melrose, a daughter of George Melrose, on 29 April 1891. He was Health Officer for Unley Council and was one of four patrons, with brothers-in law W. L. Davidson and F. A. Joyner, and miner Charles Henry de Rose, who sponsored the 20-year-old Hans Heysen's studies in Europe.
Mary Jane Wigg married William Laidlaw Davidson on 1 September 1885. Davidson's sister Janet had previously married Edward Neale Wigg.
Ellen Deborah Wigg.
Florence Fanny Wigg.
Annie Adelaide Wigg married Frederick Allen Joyner on 28 September 1889.
Their home for many years was at Lefevre Terrace Medindie. He bought the land in 1851 and had a cottage built there.
