William Wyggeston (sometimes spelt William Wigston; ca. 1467 to 1536) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As ...

merchant based in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

. He was part of the Wyggeston family, which included at least one other William Wyggeston. Although the family had been influential before, he became extremely wealthy (in 1522 records indicate he paid 22% of the tax levied on Leicester), and became Mayor of the Corporation of Leicester twice, and represented

in the Seventh Parliament of Henry VII.

Life

He was born c.1467, the son and heir of Alderman John Wigston of the Newarke, Leicester, who had been

Mayor of Leicester The mayor of Leicester is responsible for the executive function of Leicester City Council in England. The incumbent is Peter Soulsby of the Labour Party. Background In December 2010 the Labour controlled Leicester City Council approved plan ...

in 1469. William was made a freeman of Leicester in 1493–94, filled various municipal offices and became

in 1499, was elected M.P. for Leicester in 1504, and was again made mayor in 1510. He was a wool merchant of the Staple of Calais, and it is stated on his monument that he was mayor of Calais four times. He was certainly mayor of Calais in November 1514. He married twice, firstly Isabella, sister of Alderman Richard Gillot, and secondly Agnes, the widow of a Mr Trotter. He had no children.

Legacy

Wyggeston was also known as a benefactor, and set up an early 'hospital' (almshouse) in Leicester in 1513, now called Wyggeston's Hospital, and funded by the income of the Swannington estate, which he bought in 1520

The hospital still exists as a

retirement home A retirement home – sometimes called an old people's home or old age home, although ''old people's home'' can also refer to a nursing home – is a multi-residence housing facility intended for the elderly. Typically, each person or couple i ...

for old people, based on Hinckley Road in the

West End of Leicester Westcotes is an area to the west of the city of Leicester. It is also a ward of the City of Leicester whose population at the 2011 census was 11,644. It is also known as the West End of Leicester. The area is quite small in comparison with other ...

. The original hospital was next to St Martin's Church (now Leicester Cathedral) After Wyggeston's death, his brother Thomas Wyggeston, as a trustee, used part of the money to establish a grammar school in Leicester. Whilst this eventually became defunct, it gave its name to the later

Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys was a grammar school in Leicester, England, in existence from 1876 to 1976. It was succeeded by the present-day Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College. History After William Wyggeston's death in 1536, his brot ...

, succeeded by the

Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College () is a sixth form college, located in Leicester, England. The college is led by Paul Wilson who was appointed the eighth principal in March 2018. The college merged with the nearby Regent College in 2018 ...

Wyggeston Grammar School for Girls Regent College was a sixth form college in Leicester, England. The college was formed in 1976 as the ''Wyggeston Collegiate Sixth Form College'' and was renamed ''Regent College'' in 1996. It was merged into the nearby Wyggeston and Queen Eli ...

was founded not long after the Victorian boys' school. In 1981 it merged with another girls' grammar school in Leicester, Collegiate Girls' School, and stopped taking in girls at eleven. It instead became a Sixth Form college known as Wyggeston Collegiate Sixth Form College. Later still it became known as

Regent College Regent College is an interdenominational evangelical Christian College of Christian studies, and an affiliated college of the University of British Columbia, located next to the university's campus in the University Endowment Lands west of Van ...

. Wyggeston is one of the figures honoured by Leicester's

Clock Tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure which house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another buildi ...

(which spells his name 'Wigston'). A Freemasons' meeting in Leicester named a Lodge after William Wyggeston which was consecrated on 1 July 1910
The Wyggeston Lodge, No.3448
also takes William Wyggeston's motto, "Date eleemosynam et ecce omnia munda sunt vobis"/"Give freely of yourself and behold all Worlds are yours". There is a pub in

Wigston Wigston, or Wigston Magna, is a town in Leicestershire, England, just south of Leicester on the A5199. It had a population of 32,321 in 2011. Geography Wigston is south of the city of Leicester, at the centre of Leicestershire and the East ...

named after him. The name is there spelt "Wygston"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wyggeston, William Politicians from Leicester Merchants of the Staple English MPs 1504 1460s births 1536 deaths 15th-century English businesspeople 15th-century English politicians 16th-century English politicians 16th-century English businesspeople Mayors of places in Leicestershire