# Jane Wigham

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{{Short description|Scottish abolitionist (1801–1888)}}
{{hatnote|For the Scottish abolitionist. Not to be confused Scottish socialite [Jane Corby Wigham](/source/Jane_Beadon).}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2018}}

{{Infobox person
| name        = Jane Wigham
| image       = Wighams jane and eliza and another.JPG
| caption     = [Eliza Wigham](/source/Eliza_Wigham), [Mary Estlin](/source/Mary_Estlin), and Jane Wigham c. 1845
| alt         = A black and white photo of three white women in Victorian clothing.
| birth_name  = Jane Smeal
| birth_date  = {{Birth year|1801}}
| birth_place = [Glasgow](/source/Glasgow), Scotland
| death_date  = {{Death date and age|1888|1801}}
| known_for   = [Abolitionism](/source/Abolitionism), [Suffragism](/source/Women's_suffrage)
}}
'''Jane Wigham''' (née '''Smeal'''; 1801–1888) was a leading [Scottish](/source/Scottish_people) [abolitionist](/source/Abolitionism), and was the secretary of the Glasgow Ladies' Emancipation Society.<ref>{{Cite ODNB |title=Wigham, Eliza (1820–1899), philanthropist and women's activist |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-55216 |access-date=2022-03-08 | year=2004 |language=en |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/55216| isbn=978-0-19-861412-8 }}</ref>

==Life==
Smeal was born in [Glasgow](/source/Glasgow), Scotland, in 1801, the sister of [William Smeal](/source/William_Smeal). She was educated as a [Quaker](/source/Quakers) at [Ackworth School](/source/Ackworth_School) in Yorkshire. The family resided in [Edinburgh](/source/Edinburgh), later moving to [Aberdeen](/source/Aberdeen).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Whyte|first1=Iain|title='Send Back the Money!': The Free Church of Scotland and American Slavery|date=2012|publisher=James Clarke & Co}}</ref> As Quakers, Smeal's family were unusual in Scotland. The 1851 census shows that there were fewer than 400 active Scottish Quakers at the time.<ref name="bread">{{cite book|last=Pickering|first=Paul A|author2=Alex Tyrrell |title=The people's bread: a history of the Anti-Corn Law League |page=55|publisher=Leicester University Press|year=2000|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oAzdnKItEIwC&pg=PA55 | isbn=978-0-7185-0218-8}}</ref>

Smeal became the leader and secretary of the radical [Glasgow Ladies Emancipation Society](/source/Glasgow_Ladies_Emancipation_Society).<ref name=elizaodnb/> Her brother William in 1822 founded the Glasgow Anti-Slavery Society, a forerunner of the [Glasgow Emancipation Society](/source/Glasgow_Emancipation_Society), and was later active in the latter.<ref name=drbleaflet>[http://www.theedinburghreporter.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/DRB-Exhibition-Booklet.pdf Women on the Platform], DRBs Scottish Women’s History Group. Retrieved 3 June 2015.</ref> Smeal had a record of anti-slavery activity, long before the Free Church became involved in the issue.

In 1838, she published an important pamphlet with [Elizabeth Pease](/source/Elizabeth_Pease_Nichol) of Darlington titled ''Address to the Women of Great Britain''. This document called for British women to speak in public and to form anti-slavery organisations for women.<ref name=pipes>{{cite book|editor-last=Ewan|editor-first=Elizabeth L.|editor2-last=Innes |editor2-first=Sue |editor3-last=Reynolds |editor3-first=Sian |display-editors = 3 | editor4-last=Pipes  |editor4-first=Rose|title=The Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women From the Earliest Times to 2004|date=2006|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|location=Edinburgh|isbn=0748626603|page=376|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zs6qBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA376}}</ref> An address that Smeal prepared for [Queen Victoria](/source/Queen_Victoria) has been credited with being the "final blow" that ended slavery in the Caribbean.<ref name=smitley>{{cite book|last1=Smitley|first1=Megan|title=The Feminine Public Sphere: Middle-class Women and Civic Life in Scotland|date=2009|isbn=978-1847797445|page=1803|publisher=Manchester University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uPhsBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1803}}</ref>

In 1840, Smeal became the second wife of the Quaker John Wigham, who was a tea merchant and active abolitionist in Glasgow. In 1830, Wigham's wife and two of their children died however the family was revitalized when he married Smeal. Jane Smeal became Jane Wigham and she formed a close friendship and collaboration with her stepdaughter, [Eliza Wigham](/source/Eliza_Wigham).<ref name=elizaodnb/><ref name=pipes/> Smeal and Wigham's marriage took place in the same year as the [World's Anti-Slavery Convention](/source/World's_Anti-Slavery_Convention) in London, where Eliza was one of the delegates.<ref name=crawford>{{cite book|last1=Crawford|first1=Elizabeth|title=The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866–1928|date=2003|publisher=Routledge |isbn=1135434026|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a2EK9P7-ZMsC&pg=PA708}}</ref>

After the Ladies' Emancipation Society ceased activity, Jane and Eliza, along with some of their friends, set up the [Edinburgh chapter of the National Society of Women's Suffrage](/source/Edinburgh_National_Society_for_Women's_Suffrage). [Priscilla Bright McLaren](/source/Priscilla_Bright_McLaren), the president, [Elizabeth Pease](/source/Elizabeth_Pease_Nichol), the treasurer, and McLaren's daughter [Agnes McLaren](/source/Agnes_McLaren) joined Eliza as joint secretaries.<ref name=bio>National Society of Women's Suffrage. ''Examiner''; 14 Jan 1871; 3285; British Periodicals pg 55</ref><ref>[http://www.latebloomers.co.uk/wforum/ScottishSuffragists/elizawigham.html Eliza Wigham] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150531015350/http://www.latebloomers.co.uk/wforum/ScottishSuffragists/elizawigham.html |date=2015-05-31 }}, The Scottish Suffragists. Retrieved 30 May 2015</ref> Despite a lack of support from her husband John, Jane and her stepdaughter established the Edinburgh society as one of the leading British groups supporting the controversial views of the American abolitionist and social reformer [William Lloyd Garrison](/source/William_Lloyd_Garrison).<ref name=elizaodnb/>

John Wigham died in 1864 and Eliza remained on at the family home on South Gray Street in Edinburgh to care for her stepmother. Jane died in November 1888 after a prolonged illness.<ref name=elizaodnb>Lesley M. Richmond, "Wigham, Eliza (1820–1899)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/55216, accessed 3 June 2015.]</ref>

==Legacy==
Four of the women associated with Edinburgh in the 19th century were the subject of a campaign by Edinburgh historians in 2015. The group aimed to gain recognition for [Elizabeth Pease Nichol](/source/Elizabeth_Pease_Nichol), [Priscilla Bright McLaren](/source/Priscilla_Bright_McLaren), [Eliza Wigham](/source/Eliza_Wigham), and Jane Smeal – the city's "forgotten heroines".<ref>[http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/campaign-to-honour-four-forgotten-heroines-of-scottish-history.21235176 "Campaign to honour four 'forgotten' heroines of Scottish history"], ''The Herald'' (Glasgow), 2 June 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2015.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{Women's suffrage in Scotland}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wigham, Jane}}
Category:1801 births
Category:1888 deaths
Category:British women activists
Category:National Society for Women's Suffrage
Category:Politicians from Glasgow
Category:Scottish abolitionists

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jane Wigham](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Wigham) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Wigham?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.