By the mid-1800s the Richardsons had been in the tanning business for 200 years. One could say they had \u2018made it.\u2019 It would have been easy for family members to just continue doing what they knew best \u2014 tanning. Yet periodically, that spirit of innovation and entrepreneurism which seemed a part of their very DNA manifested in some remarkable and world changing way.<\/p>\n
Take the case of John Richardson Wigham (1829-1906), a Richardson on his mother\u2019s side. John was born a Quaker in Edinburgh. His father manufactured shawls. His mother died when he was one. At 15, his father sent him to Dublin, Ireland to apprentice under his brother-in-law, Joshua Edmundson (1806-1848). Joshua\u2019s company , Edmundson and Company, worked iron, founded brass and manufactured gas generation plants.<\/p>\n
Then, in 1848, Joshua died unexpectedly, aged 42. He contracted Typhus while working the Quaker soup kitchens during the Irish potato famine. His death left his wife, Mary Wigham (1818-1906), John\u2019s sister, with 5 children under 8. Desperate, Mary asked John, then 19, to take over the family business.<\/p>\n
Despite his young age and limited education, John proved to be an astute businessman. He narrowed the focus of the business to building improved gas plants (a plant was the mechanism which converted liquid fossil fuel to gas) of his own design and the enterprise flourished.<\/p>\n
John\u2019s Richardson relatives built ships on the Clyde. No doubt he conversed with them at family gatherings about maritime matters. That got John thinking about expanding the business into navigational aids, in particular, developing lighted buoys for river navigation which would remain lit in severe weather. John patented the first successful lighted buoy in 1861.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.8.2″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.8.2″ _module_preset=”default” hover_enabled=”0″ sticky_enabled=”0″]\n
In 1863, the Dublin Ballast Board gave John a grant to develop gas lights for lighthouses. In 1865, John\u2019s new gas light was installed in the Bailey Lighthouse on the east coast of Ireland. Experiments were carried out which identified the best fuel source for the light. The resulting design was 4 times more powerful than comparable oil lamps of the day. In 1868, Edmundson and Company installed an improved version of the light at Baily Lighthouse which was 13 times more powerful than the most brilliant light then known, an astonishing accomplishment.<\/p>\n
Then, just two years later, Wigham made another monumental innovation, an intermittent flashing mechanism, which timed the gas supply by means of clockwork. When this mechanism was combined with a revolving lens in Rockabill Lighthouse, the world’s first lighthouse with a group-flashing characteristic was produced. That innovation was of tremendous importance to navigation because it gave each lighthouse a unique identification, ruling out errors of position. It most certainly saved thousands of lives across the world.<\/p>\n
Other inventions followed – better oil lamps, gas-lights, electric lights, gas-powered fog signals, buoys and acetylene lighting. John died in 1906, hard at work on a new innovation. For his life-saving accomplishments, John was twice offered a knighthood. In keeping with the Quaker abhorrence of titles, he twice declined.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Source for header and gallery images with thanks:\u00a0https:\/\/greatlighttq.org\/app\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Wigham-John-R-Inventor-KL-History.pdf<\/em><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.8.2″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”||5px|||”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.8.2″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_gallery gallery_ids=”9864,9865,9866,9867,9868″ _builder_version=”4.8.2″ _module_preset=”default”][\/et_pb_gallery][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.8.2″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”0px|||||”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.8.2″ _module_preset=”default” custom_padding=”0px|||||”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.8.2″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.newearthvillage.com\/spriggs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Lighthouse-Sepia-8.jpg” title_text=”Lighthouse Sepia–8″ _builder_version=”4.8.2″ _module_preset=”default” max_width=”30%”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.8.2″ _module_preset=”default” text_font=”||on||||||” text_font_size=”23px” header_text_color=”#333333″ header_4_font=”|600|||||||” header_4_text_color=”#555555″ header_4_font_size=”19px” custom_margin=”28px|||||”]\n Relation: uncle of wife of 3rd cousin 3x removed<\/em><\/p>\n[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" John Richardson Wigham Lighthouse Engineer\u00a0 (1829-1906) By the mid-1800s the Richardsons had been in the tanning business for 200 years. One could say they had \u2018made it.\u2019 It would have been easy for family members to just continue doing what they knew best \u2014 tanning. Yet periodically, that spirit of innovation and entrepreneurism which seemed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_stc_notifier_status":"sent","_stc_notifier_sent_time":"2021-08-01 13:47:35","_stc_notifier_request":false,"_stc_notifier_prevent":false,"_stc_subscriber_keywords":"","_stc_subscriber_search_areas":"","nf_dc_page":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","h5ap_radio_sources":[],"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[999,1007,576],"tags":[1483,1367],"authors":[687],"3_era_spriggs":[],"class_list":["post-9721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-text-images","category-1800-1899-all-eras","category-wigham","tag-lighthouse","tag-light","authors-bruce-peter"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":18698,"url":"https:\/\/www.newearthvillage.com\/spriggs\/edgemere-a-talk-with-hester\/","url_meta":{"origin":9721,"position":0},"title":"Edgemere: A Talk With Hester","author":"Peter Bruce","date":"August 30, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.newearthvillage.com\/spriggs\/category\/content-type\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4232,"url":"https:\/\/www.newearthvillage.com\/spriggs\/haddon-hall-connection\/","url_meta":{"origin":9721,"position":1},"title":"Haddon Hall Connection","author":"Peter Bruce","date":"November 23, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "Pre 1600"","block_context":{"text":"Pre 1600","link":"https:\/\/www.newearthvillage.com\/spriggs\/category\/era\/pre-1600-root-spriggs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19437,"url":"https:\/\/www.newearthvillage.com\/spriggs\/post-template-apr-2022\/","url_meta":{"origin":9721,"position":2},"title":"Post Template Apr 2022","author":"Peter Bruce","date":"September 19, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newearthvillage.com\/spriggs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/OldManuscriptCropBig--e1632069305713.jpg?fit=1200%2C191&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newearthvillage.com\/spriggs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/OldManuscriptCropBig--e1632069305713.jpg?fit=1200%2C191&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newearthvillage.com\/spriggs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/OldManuscriptCropBig--e1632069305713.jpg?fit=1200%2C191&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newearthvillage.com\/spriggs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/OldManuscriptCropBig--e1632069305713.jpg?fit=1200%2C191&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.newearthvillage.com\/spriggs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/OldManuscriptCropBig--e1632069305713.jpg?fit=1200%2C191&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9669,"url":"https:\/\/www.newearthvillage.com\/spriggs\/indomitable-mary-fisher-1623-1698\/","url_meta":{"origin":9721,"position":3},"title":"Indomitable Mary Fisher 1623-1698","author":"Peter Bruce","date":"January 30, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "1600-1699"","block_context":{"text":"1600-1699","link":"https:\/\/www.newearthvillage.com\/spriggs\/category\/era\/1600-1699-all-eras\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9627,"url":"https:\/\/www.newearthvillage.com\/spriggs\/quakers\/","url_meta":{"origin":9721,"position":4},"title":"Quakers","author":"Peter Bruce","date":"January 30, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"","rel":"","context":"In "1600-1699"","block_context":{"text":"1600-1699","link":"https:\/\/www.newearthvillage.com\/spriggs\/category\/era\/1600-1699-all-eras\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11353,"url":"https:\/\/www.newearthvillage.com\/spriggs\/quakers-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":9721,"position":5},"title":"Quakers","author":"Peter Bruce","date":"May 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Above Image: Elizabeth Fry counsels woman prison inmates Agents of Change The stories of the Root Spriggs family in Britain, for the most part, honour inspiring individuals. 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Lighthouse engineer<\/h4>\n