Denis Grey Wigan (21 June 1893 – 31 December 1958) was an English first-class

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

er and British Army officer. The son of Sir Frederick William Wigan, he was born at Walton-on-Thames in June 1893. He was educated at Eton College, where he took part in the

Fowler's match Fowler's match is the name given to the two-day Eton v Harrow cricket match held at Lord's on Friday 8 and Saturday 9 July 1910. The match is named after the captain of Eton College, Robert St Leger Fowler, whose outstanding all round batting an ...

of 1910 and captained the college cricket team in 1912. From Eton, Wigan went up to

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

.Mr D. G. Wigan. '' The Times''. 16 January 1959. p. 13 While studying at Oxford, he played first-class cricket for Oxford University in 1913 and 1914, making six appearances. He scored 119 runs in his six matches, at an average of 14.87 and a high score of 73 not out. Due to the commencement of the First World War in July 1914, his time at Oxford was prematurely cut short, denying him his blue. Wigan served in the war, being commissioned as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the

King's Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...

in September 1914. He was promoted to lieutenant in December 1914. He was later made a temporary

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, but relinquished the rank in June 1915, having been repatriated to England after developing neurasthenia, for which he was not successfully treated. During his absence from the front he was promoted to the full rank of captain in August 1916. His ill health led to him being invalided out of the army, with Wigan retiring from active service in June 1917. Following the war, he settled in

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

where he took up farming. Despite being invalided, he commanded his local Home Guard unit during the Second World War, though these duties too took a further strain on his health. Later in life he served as a

justice of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for Suffolk. Wigan died in December 1958 at Pettistree, Suffolk. He was survived by his wife, Mabel, whom he had married in October 1915. The couple had four children, with two dying in infancy. His nephew, Charles Lyttelton, and brother-in-law,

Geoffrey Colman Geoffrey Russell Rees Colman (14 March 1892 – 18 March 1935) was an English cricketer active in first-class cricket from 1912 to 1924. Colman was born at Norwich to mustard manufacturer Russell James Colman, of Crown Point House, Norwich, ...

, both played first-class cricket.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wigan, Denis 1893 births 1958 deaths People from Walton-on-Thames People educated at Eton College Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford English cricketers Oxford University cricketers King's Royal Rifle Corps officers British Army personnel of World War I People with post-traumatic stress disorder 20th-century English farmers English justices of the peace Younger sons of baronets Cricketers from Surrey British lawyers with disabilities English disabled sportspeople Military personnel from Surrey