Very old gun
I have a gun that my father gave to me. He said that my great-great grandfather had the gun handmade in England and shipped to him in Texas in the 1840s. It was for bear hunting. The name on the gun is John Wiggin. I did a Google search for John Wiggin, and found 2 possibles, although they may be the same person. One was a gun sales site in England that had a gun made by a John Wiggin in the 1840s for sale. It was made for a militia. The other was a history of Jamaica that mentioned a John Wiggin as a member of the British military stationed there. I emailed the gun site in England, but no answer. Does anyone know anything about this guy? What other types of guns did he make? Etc??
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Good Afternoon...In reply to your request for information on John Wiggin.....Heres all that I can find in My database.......
Wiggan & Elliot, Birmingham......
John Wiggin set up in business at No.26 Whittall Street, Birmingham in 1828.
By 1836 he had changed the way He spelled his Name to (Wiggan)....
By 1845 the address had altered to No. 27 or perhaps the street had been re-numbered. In 1862 the style changes and the firm becomes WIGGAN & ELLIOT and the number is now 25.
In the forthcoming years Henry Elliot obtained British Patent No. 1782 for a particularly interesting type of breech locking mechanism. By 1876 the firm of Wiggan & Elliot describe themselves as being "makers to the Royal Family and the Pacha of Egypt" and state that they are "manufacturers of the Elliot Patent Breech Loading windage gun" By 1890 the works in Whittall Street had been taken over by George Kynoch............Hope this is of some small help in your search for information on Wiggin/Wiggan...one and the same person.................Best...........
Captain Kirk, Tech Staff<P><BR>0 -
Thanks for the info. I looked at the gun again, and it does say Wiggan, which confirms that it was after 1836. My G-G-Grandfather came to the US after 1845, so I imagine he had it made soon after that. I also looked up my GGGrandfather's info., and he also was from Birmingham, England, and would have been 13 years old when Wiggan/Wiggin set up his shop. If he did not actually know Wiggan, I am sure he knew of him before he sent over for the gun. 0 -
Good to hear it is still in the family. How about some pictures please. 0
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