William Wigston was a Watchmaker and Jeweller who was was born in Coventry in April 1840, he moved to Bolton and on 8 August 1872 he married there, a Mary Jane Torkington.
The family lived at 1 Bury Old Road, and William over the years had shops at 132 Newport Street, in 1874 and 7 Bury New Road in 1873.
He and his family emigrated and on the 9 December 1889, they arrived at Melbourne, Victoria, on the ship Aigburth, with his five children.
By the early 1890’s he was at Liverpool St. Hobart, Tasmania and by 1892 had a partnership of Long and Wigston, with Charles Long, agents for the English and American Watch Company, and from 1896 his premises moved and were located 30 mins away in New Norfolk.
William died on 8 July 1904, at the General Hospital, in Hobart.
Following his death an advertisement was published to clear his premises:
The Mercury 1 April 1905:
‘Notice. All watches, etc., left with the late Mr W Wigston of New Norfolk for repair must be claimed on or before the 30th April inst., otherwise they will be sold.
H. Wigston, New Norfolk.’