:''This article concerns the Irish-based inventor and lighthouse engineer, not his cousin the shipbuilder

John Wigham Richardson John Wigham Richardson (7 January 1837 – 15 April 1908) was a British shipbuilder on Tyneside during the late 19th and early 20th century. Career Richardson was born on 7 January 1837, the son of devout Quakers Edward Richardson and Jan ...

''. John Richardson Wigham (15 January 1829 – 16 November 1906) was a prominent lighthouse engineer of the 19th century.

Early life

Wigham was born to a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

family in Newington, Edinburgh, Scotland. His father, John, operated a mill for the manufacture of

shawl A shawl (from fa, شال ''shāl'',) is a simple item of clothing from Kashmir, loosely worn over the shoulders, upper body and arms, and sometimes also over the head. It is usually a rectangular or square piece of cloth, which is often folde ...

s and his mother, Jane née Richardson, died in 1830. When he was 15 years old he was

apprenticed Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

to his brother-in-law Joshua Edmundson in

Capel Street Capel Street is a street in Dublin, Ireland. On 20 May 2022, it was made traffic-free, following a campaign by people who wanted to improve the quality of life on the street. It is now the longest traffic-free street in Dublin. History Capel ...

, Dublin, Ireland. Edmundson & Co. dealt in

ironmongery Ironmongery originally referred, first, to the manufacture of iron goods and, second, to the place of sale of such items for domestic rather than industrial use. In both contexts, the term has expanded to include items made of steel, aluminium ...

, ran a

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wi ...

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

, and carried out tin plate working and

japanning Japanning is a type of finish that originated as a European imitation of East Asian lacquerwork. It was first used on furniture, but was later much used on small items in metal. The word originated in the 17th century. American work, with ...

(metal paintwork). After John joined, they also provided gas generation plants. On 26 January 1848, Joshua died of typhus, which he contracted whilst providing relief within soup kitchens during the Great Famine. Though John was only 19 years old, he took over operation of the company and provided for his sister and her children. His sister

Eliza Wigham {{Infobox person , name = Eliza Wigham , image = Eliza Wigham from Woman at Home.jpg , image_size = , caption = from an 1895 book , birth_name = Elizabeth Wigham , birth_date = ...

became a leading citizen of Edinburgh leading campaigns for women's rights and abolitionist. Despite his relative youth and limited education, Wigham proved to be a very successful businessman. He concentrated on the provision of more efficient gas-plants of his own design, and Edmundson & Co prospered. Wigham's relatives, in Scotland, were involved in

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to bef ...

, and he developed an interest in lighting used as a

navigational aid Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...

at sea. Initially,

buoy A buoy () is a floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents. Types Navigational buoys * Race course marker buoys are used for buoy racing, the most prevalent form of y ...

s only had bells to warn mariners at night: the difficulty lay in designing an oil-lamp which could burn while unattended and not be extinguished by waves and storms. The first successful lighted buoy was patented by Wigham in 1861. It was installed in the

river Clyde The River Clyde ( gd, Abhainn Chluaidh, , sco, Clyde Watter, or ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major cit ...

. On August 4, 1855, Wigham married Mary Pim, daughter of Irish businessman and MP Jonathan Pim. They had 10 children.

Work on lighthouse illumination

In 1863 Wigham was given a grant by the

Dublin Ballast Board Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 cen ...

to develop a system for

gas Gas is one of the four fundamental states of matter (the others being solid, liquid, and plasma). A pure gas may be made up of individual atoms (e.g. a noble gas like neon), elemental molecules made from one type of atom (e.g. oxygen), or ...

illumination of lighthouses. In 1865 the

Baily Lighthouse The Baily Lighthouse (Irish: ''Teach Solais Dhún Criofainn'') is a lighthouse on the southeastern part of Howth Head in County Dublin, Ireland. It is maintained by the Commissioners of Irish Lights. History Early history The first lightho ...

Howth Head Howth Head ( ; ''Ceann Bhinn Éadair'' in Irish) is a peninsula northeast of the city of Dublin in Ireland, within the governance of Fingal County Council. Entry to the headland is at Sutton while the village of Howth and the harbour are ...

was fitted with Wigham's new gas 'crocus' burnerThe 'crocus' burner was important in that it established the superiority of gas over oil, however Wigham replaced the 'crocus' design with his 'composite' burner this design was, which was 4 times more powerful than equivalent oil lights. An improved 'composite' design, installed in the Baily light in 1868, was 13 times more powerful than the most brilliant light then known, according to the scientist

John Tyndall John Tyndall FRS (; 2 August 1820 – 4 December 1893) was a prominent 19th-century Irish physicist. His scientific fame arose in the 1850s from his study of diamagnetism. Later he made discoveries in the realms of infrared radiation and the ...

, an advisor to the United Kingdom's lighthouse authority,

Trinity House "Three In One" , formation = , founding_location = Deptford, London, England , status = Royal Charter corporation and registered charity , purpose = Maintenance of lighthouses, buoys and beacons , he ...

. In 1870, the light at

Wicklow Head Wicklow Head () is a headland near the southeast edge of the town of Wicklow in County Wicklow, approximately from the centre of the town. Geographically, it is the easternmost point on the mainland of the Republic of Ireland. Lighthouses T ...

was fitted with Wigham's patent intermittent flashing mechanism, which timed the gas supply by means of

clockwork Clockwork refers to the inner workings of either mechanical devices called clocks and watches (where it is also called the movement) or other mechanisms that work similarly, using a series of gears driven by a spring or weight. A clockwork mech ...

. When this mechanism was combined with a revolving

lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements ...

Rockabill Rockabill () is a group of two islands, "The Rock" and "The Bill", lying in the western Irish Sea about 6 kilometres east-north-east of Skerries, County Dublin, Ireland. An alternative Irish name, ''Carraig Dhá Bheola'', meaning ''Two Li ...

Lighthouse, the world's first lighthouse with a group-flashing characteristic was produced. Wigham had a long-standing rivalry with the Engineer-in-Chief of Trinity House,

James Nicholas Douglass Sir James Nicholas Douglass, (16 October 1826 – 19 June 1898) was an English civil engineer, a prolific lighthouse builder and designer, most famous for the design and construction of the fourth Eddystone Lighthouse, for which he was knig ...

, which erupted over trials of rival gas, oil and electric illumination systems conducted at

South Foreland Lighthouse South Foreland Lighthouses are a pair of Victorian lighthouses on the South Foreland in St. Margaret's Bay, Dover, Kent, England, used to warn ships approaching the nearby Goodwin Sands. There has been a pair of lighthouses at South Forelan ...

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maids ...

, in 1884-5. Tyndall, still acting as a scientific consultant, accused Douglass of using his position to influence the trials' outcome and ensure the adoption of his own patents over those of Wigham. Wigham also stated that Douglass had used elements of one of his rejected designs. As a result of the dispute, Tyndall resigned, while Wigham was eventually paid £2500 by the

Board of Trade The Board of Trade is a British government body concerned with commerce and industry, currently within the Department for International Trade. Its full title is The Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council appointed for the consideration of ...

for patent infringement.Lee, S. (ed.) ''Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, Vol III'', Adamant, , pp.662–663.

Other inventions; later life

Wigham made many other inventions, largely in the area of maritime safety. He invented new oil-lamps, gas-lights and electric-lights, gas-powered

fog signal A foghorn or fog signal is a device that uses sound to warn vehicles of navigational hazards such as rocky coastlines, or boats of the presence of other vessels, in foggy conditions. The term is most often used in relation to marine transport. Wh ...

s, buoys, petroleum-fuelled buoy lights and acetylene lighting equipment. He was working on new electric illumination systems at the time of his death in 1906. Lights supplied by Edmundson & Co were used in lighthouses all over the globe; the firm still exists today as F. Barrett & Co, of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

. Wigham was also director and vice-chairman of the

Dublin United Tramways Company The Dublin United Transport Company (DUTC) operated trams and buses in Dublin, Ireland until 1945. Following legislation in the Oireachtas, the ''Transport Act, 1944'', the DUTC and the Great Southern Railways were vested in the newly formed C� ...

, and latterly president of the

Dublin Chamber of Commerce Dublin Chamber of Commerce also known as the Dublin Chamber, is the oldest chamber of commerce in Ireland. Origins The Dublin Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1783. It had been preceded by other collective bodies including the Guild of Merch ...

. An advocate of

temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture * Temperance (group), Canadian dan ...

, he twice turned down a

knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the ...

due to his religious beliefs. He is buried in the Friends Burial Ground (Quaker cemetery) at

Blackrock, Dublin Blackrock () is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, northwest of Dún Laoghaire. Location and access Blackrock covers a large but not precisely defined area, rising from sea level on the coast to at White's Cross on the N11 national primary road. ...

Footnotes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson Wigham, John 1829 births 1906 deaths Irish engineers Irish inventors Scottish engineers Scottish inventors Lighthouse builders Engineers from Edinburgh Burials at Friends Burial Ground, Dublin