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WELCOME TO THE FIFTH EDITION OF THE “WORLD WIDE W*GG*”

Editor - Vivian Egan

Well, it has been another hectic couple of months. We have moved house and our new postal address is:

37 Sir Arthur Fadden Parade, Ingham, Queensland 4850, Australia.

I have recently received the 1881 Census CD Set. WIGG dominates with 829 entries, followed by WAGG with 708, WIGGS 206, WEGG 192, WAGGE 8, WIGGE 2 and one lonely WHIG. However, some WIGG families have been listed as WEGG and vice versa. So look forward to seeing new extracts up on Sheila Jones’ webpage in the near future [web.ukonline.co.uk/sheila.jones/dbwigg.htm]

The majority of WIGGs were found living in East Anglia with 191 in Suffolk followed by 121 in Norfolk. Middlesex and Surrey found another 155, followed by Hampshire 72 and Kent 49.

WIGGS was predominantly found in Middlesex, Surrey and Hertfordshire; with WEGG being almost exclusively from Norfolk with a small enclave from Middlesex/Kent area.

The Norfolk WAGGs led the way with 179, followed by Staffordshire 128, Nottinghamshire 79, Derbyshire 70 and Salop [Shropshire] 52.

In response to my request for articles on “FAMOUS” or “INFAMOUS” W*gg*s, Allan McGillivray has been very helpful.

CAN ANYONE CLAIM THESE TWO WAGGs ???

Allan’s great aunt, Ada Wagg Yakeley (1895-1982) had a cup which had on the bottom
“Fanfare Pattern by Albert Wagg N.R.D., Wedgewood Co. Ltd., 1835”.

Does anyone know what the initials N.R.D. stand for ? There was quite a large collection of WAGG families in Staffordshire, the heart of the pottery industry. Does anyone have access to an 1851 Census Index for that area for any leads ?

AND THE SECOND

In June 1965, a retired Army officer. Lieut.-Colonel Frederick Wagg, age 74, of Old Park Avenue, Dover, formerly of the Royal Artillery and a veteran of two World Wars, returned his 12 decorations and medals to the Queen. He also resigned from the Labour party in protest against the Beatles being made MBEs, and a bequest of £11,000 to the party was cut out of his will.

He was quoted as saying “that the Honours were being brought into disrepute and that advisers to the Queen are exposing her to ridicule and scorn.” He had nothing against the Beatles personally, and believed they were quite good lads.

A search of the Principal Probate Registry Index has not been succesful in locating a will for Col. Wagg. Does anyone have any experience with Army records and whether or not we could locate him that way ???

GRO EXTRACTS - WIGGS & WEGG

David WIGG [of Sevenoaks, Kent] has volunteered to start extracting the WIGGS entries from the GRO Indexes, but would appreciate some assistance. If you can volunteer your help please contact David.

Any takers to start on the WEGG entries ???

To give you an idea of the amount of work involved, the WIGG entries [all births, marriages and deaths] totalled around 7,400. Based on the numbers in the 1881 Census, I believe WIGGS could be in the region of 1,850 and WEGG around 1,730. Anyone like to take my math calculations on ???

FEATURE FAMILY - James WIGG & Susanna SHARDELOW of Norton Subcourse, Norfolk.

So far James has defied all attempts to confirm the names of his parents, when he died in 1797 at the early age of 37 a thoughtful parson added a note in the register "Son of James Wigg of Haddiscoe" but no record of his birth has been found there or in the surrounding villages. James seems to have been a favourite name in that area, a direct line of 4 of that name can be found previously and James had a son and grandson named after him. His second son, Edward, died in Tobago, West Indies, there is a memorial tablet to him in the church at Norton but it has not been possible to find anything more about him or any reason why he would be there. I like to think he was a pirate but if the truth is ever found it will probably be much more mundane.

PROFILE SPOTLIGHT - GERALD GEORGE LANGFORD

I much prefer Gerry, a name I acquired during five years in the R A F . My paternal grandmother was a Wigg from the area of Norfolk between Norwich and Gt. Yarmouth.

When I was demobilised I went into Horticulture for a few years before joining the Artificial Insemination Service of the Milk Marketing Board where I worked on genetic improvement until I took early retirement in 1984.

I have researched, with varying success, all branches of mine and my wife’s families but now concentrate on a One-Name Study of the name SHARDELOW and its variants. I am about six generations removed from the nearest relative of that name but it is one that has a fascinating history which can be traced back to c 1250.

Always chasing additions to the “CERTIFICATE REGISTER”. Photocopies or transcriptions of ANY W*GG* certificates to add to the database. Many thanks to those who have already contributed.

If you have access to any UK Census Indexes details would be most appreciated. 1881 is now complete, as well as those for 1851 Norfolk, Warwick & Devon.

Requesting “FEATURE FAMILY” and “PROFILE SPOTLIGHT” details for next newsletter NOW !!

And last of all, please remember to cover your newletter distributors postal costs.

Until next time, best wishes to you all...................................................

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