Bill Wiggins

William Henry Wiggins (1914 - 2010)

 

Bill Wiggins was born on 27th March 1914 in Hackney, his parents being Thomas Henry and Florence (née Marsh).  Bill married Marjorie Ellen Shapland in 1940, shortly after the start of WWII.

 

Due to sight problems, Bill was retained on war work, and at weekends used to be a firewatcher.  He and Marge lived in London, and were lucky to survive after their house was bombed in an air raid, after which they went to live with his mother.

 

Bill joined the Company in April 1947 as a Setter Operator in the Machine Shop, after previous employment in Edmonton with Bristow Machinery Ltd. and Wright & Weaire Ltd.  He later recalled working alongside Steve Marriage, Paddy Dodds (‘used to drive to work with his motorcycle and sidecar') and Jimmy Eyre (‘used to maintain the machines').

 

Bill left the Company in March 1967 after nearly 20 years' service, and he and Marge moved to Kingsteignton in Devon to be nearer their family.  Bill found a job with the Post Office as a sorter and worked there until retiring in 1979 at the age of 65.  After then, Bill kept busy by going to Council meetings, helping the local Labour Party, and walking, and he also supported charities, in particular the Dame Hannah Rogers Trust's school.

 

Bill frequently wrote to us when items in the Lion News caught his attention, and on one occasion met up with Richard Herbert at an Easter rugby match at Teignmouth RFC.  He also kept in touch with Elsie Kitchen, as well as Ted Brown and his wife Edie, whom he had ‘known since the late 1930s'.

 

Bill and Marjorie were a devoted couple, kind and generous to their family.  Marjorie died in 1997, and Bill in 2010 at the age of 95.