Rodolph Lysaght Wigley (21 October 1881 – 27 April 1946), known as "Wigs" to his friends, was a New Zealand businessman from
Fairlie in South Canterbury, and pioneer of the New Zealand tourism industry. He founded the
Mount Cook Group
Mount Cook Group was a New Zealand tourism and transport operator founded on 2 April 1912 by Rodolph Lysaght Wigley. Originally a road transport business, the ''Mount Cook Tourist Company of New Zealand'' became a public company in 1928. By 1930 ...
of tourism and transport companies, which were taken over by his son
Harry Wigley. He was a son of
Thomas Wigley, MLC and sheep-farmer.
His first business in 1904 was "Wigley and Thornton" which transported wool from South Canterbury sheep stations to Timaru using steam traction engines. In 1906 he purchased a 6 hp De Dion car and drove it to
The Hermitage hotel near
Mount Cook; and subsequently dissolved his first firm and formed the "Mount Cook Motor Co Ltd" with four Darraq cars to provide transport for tourists to The Hermitage and from 1912 Queenstown also. When the Lakes County Council tried to stop motor cars on the Queenstown route by banning ''any vehicle propelled by its own power'' from a critical two mile stretch, he hired men with horses to pull the cars with passengers over the section. After the Great War he purchased five war surplus British aircraft and formed "The New Zealand Aero Transport Co" in 1921, the precursor to
Mount Cook Airline
Mount Cook Airline was a regional airline based in Christchurch, New Zealand. Formerly part of the Mount Cook Group and latterly a subsidiary of Air New Zealand, it operated scheduled services throughout the country under the Air New Zealand ...
.
He was also a notable mountaineer, making the first mid-winter ascent of
Mount Cook with two guides, on 11–12 August 1923.
He formed the Tongariro Tourist Company to build the
Chateau Tongariro which was opened in 1929.
In 1999, Wigley was posthumously inducted into the
New Zealand Business Hall of Fame
The New Zealand Business Hall of Fame is a figurative hall of fame dedicated to New Zealanders who have made a significant contribution to the economic and social development of New Zealand. The hall was established in 1994 by the Young Enterpri ...
.
References
*''Mount Cook Co founded after pioneering trip by car 50 years ago'' in "Timaru Herald", 15 December 1956.
*''Memories'' by Les Watkins, p52-53 "New Zealand Memories" No 103, August–September 2013.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wigley, Rodolph
1881 births
1946 deaths
20th-century New Zealand businesspeople
People educated at Christ's College, Christchurch
People from Fairlie, New Zealand
Moorhouse–Rhodes family