Horace Wigan (1815/16 – 7 August 1885) was an actor, dramatist and theatre manager. He was the original Hawkshaw, the detective in the play '' The Ticket-of-Leave Man'' by

Tom Taylor Tom Taylor (19 October 1817 – 12 July 1880) was an English dramatist, critic, biographer, public servant, and editor of ''Punch'' magazine. Taylor had a brief academic career, holding the professorship of English literature and language a ...

Early career

He was born in

Blackheath, London Blackheath is an area in Southeast London, straddling the border of the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the London Borough of Lewisham. It is located northeast of Lewisham, south of Greenwich, London, Greenwich and southeast of Charing Cross, ...

, son of James Wigan, a teacher of languages and at one time Secretary of the Dramatic Authors' Society; he was younger brother of the actor-manager

Alfred Wigan Alfred Sydney Wigan (24 March 1814Some sources say 24 March 1818 – 29 November 1878) was an English actor-manager who took part in the first Royal Command Performance before Queen Victoria on 28 December 1848.Gillan, DonA History of the Ro ...

. He was first seen on stage in Dublin on 1 August 1853, in ''Sweethearts and Wives'' by James Kenney. His first London appearance was at the

Olympic Theatre The Olympic Theatre, sometimes known as the Royal Olympic Theatre, was a 19th-century London theatre, opened in 1806 and located at the junction of Drury Lane, Wych Street and Newcastle Street. The theatre specialised in comedies throughout ...

from 1 May 1854, in ''The Happy Man'' by Lever. Wigan first attracted attention in 1858 when he opened on 4 December 1858 in the original production of ''The Porter's Knot'' by

John Oxenford John Oxenford (12 August 1812 – 21 February 1877) was an English dramatist, critic and translator. Life Oxenford was born in Camberwell, London, his father a prosperous merchant. Whilst he was privately educated, it is reported that he was m ...

, playing Smoothly Smirk. From 11 April 1859 he was in the original production of ''Nine Points of the Law'' by

, playing Mr. Cunninghame. He played The Baron de Beaupré in

John Maddison Morton John Maddison Morton (3 January 1811 – 19 December 1891) was an English playwright who specialised in one-act farces. His most famous farce was '' Box and Cox'' (1847). He also wrote comic dramas, pantomimes and other theatrical pieces. Biog ...

's ''A Husband to Order'' from 17 October 1859, and William Hogarth in Tom Taylor's ''The Christmas Dinner'', opening on 23 April 1860. All these productions were at the Olympic Theatre.Pascoe, Charles E.''The Dramatic List: a record of the performances of living actors and actresses of the British stage'', 1880

1860s

From 27 March 1863 he was the original Hawkshaw, a detective, in '' The Ticket-of-Leave Man'' by Taylor, his first distinct acting success. In 1864 he became manager of the Olympic Theatre. In London he had appeared only at this theatre. He opened on 2 November with three new plays: Tom Taylor's ''The Hidden Hand'', and two farces, John Oxenford's ''The Girl I Left Behind Me'' and John Maddison Morton's ''My Wife's Bonnet'', all of them adaptations from the French. In Tom Taylor's ''Settling Day'', opening on 4 March 1865, he was the first Meiklam. In a revival of ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vi ...

'' he was Sir

Andrew Aguecheek Sir Andrew Aguecheek is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's play ''Twelfth Night, or What You Will''. One of the supporting characters, Sir Andrew is a stereotypical fool, who is goaded into unwisely duelling with Cesario and who i ...

. From 30 June 1865 in Tom Taylor's ''The Serf, or Love Levels All'', he was Khor, an old serf. From about 1866 the Olympic Theatre was managed by

Benjamin Nottingham Webster Benjamin Nottingham Webster (3 September 17973 July 1882) was an English actor-manager and dramatist. Early life Webster was born in Bath, the son of a dancing master. Career First appearing as Harlequin, and then in small parts at D ...

. From 7 November 1868 he played Inspector

Javert Javert (), no first name given in the source novel, is a fictional character and the main antagonist of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel ''Les Misérables.'' He was presumably born in 1780 and died on June 7, 1832. First a prison guard, and then a polic ...

in the first production of ''The Yellow Passport'' by Henry Gartside Neville, an adaptation of ''Les Misérables'' by Victor Hugo. He appeared in ''A Life Chase'', an adaptation by himself and

of ''Le Drame de la Rue de la Paix'', at the Gaiety Theatre opening on 11 October 1869.

Mirror Theatre

From 1870 Wigan appeared in various theatres in London, playing comedy roles. On 24 April 1875 he opened, as manager, the Theatre Royal, Holborn, renamed the Mirror, with a revival of ''The Hidden Hand'', A. Maltby's ''Make Yourself at Home'', and James Kenney's ''Maids of Honour''. He was, from 29 May, the first Inspector Walker in ''The Detective'' (''Le Parricide''), adapted by

Clement Scott Clement William Scott (6 October 1841 – 25 June 1904) was an influential English theatre critic for ''The Daily Telegraph'' and other journals, and a playwright, lyricist, translator and travel writer, in the final decades of the 19th century ...

and E. Manuel. In the following year the theatre passed into other hands and was renamed The Duke's Theatre; it was burnt down in 1880.The Theatre Royal, 43 High Holborn, London
arthurlloyd.co.uk, accessed 27 October 2015. He died on 7 August 1885 in

Sidcup Sidcup is an area of south-east London, England, primarily in the London Borough of Bexley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, bordering the London Boroughs of Bromley and Greenwich. Before the creation of Greater London in 1965, it was in the ...

in south-east London, at the house of his son-in-law.

Acting style and writing

Wigan was a quiet, stolid, undemonstrative actor, most successful in detective parts which called for no display of emotion. He wrote several farces. His most successful play was ''Friends or Foes'', adapted from ''Nos Intimes'' by the French dramatist

Victorien Sardou Victorien Sardou ( , ; 5 September 18318 November 1908) was a French dramatist. He is best remembered today for his development, along with Eugène Scribe, of the well-made play. He also wrote several plays that were made into popular 19th-centur ...

, first produced at the Olympic Theatre on 8 March 1862.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wigan, Horace 1815 births 1885 deaths 19th-century English male actors English male stage actors