[Stephen Wiggin was the brother of Thomas, Linda's 6th great-grandfather.]
The life of Stephen Wiggin, wax chandler of London, is tightly woven into the commercial fabric of 18th-century England.
If you haven’t read it yet, check out Stephen Wiggin: The Wax Chandler of Exchange Alley — a deep dive into his fascinating life story.
To better understand the world he inhabited, it’s worth stepping into two key aspects of that world: the Company of Royal Adventurers of England Trading with Africa—later known as the Royal African Company—and the energetic marketplace of ideas and transactions known as Exchange Alley.
On August 17, 1720, Stephen Wiggin became a freeman of the Company of Royal Adventurers of England Trading with Africa. This was no minor affiliation. The company, founded in 1660 and reorganised in 1672 as the Royal African Company (RAC), was granted a royal monopoly over English trade along the West African coast.
Its original goals included trading in gold, ivory, and other commodities. However, its most infamous and lasting legacy lies in its central role in the transatlantic slave trade. The company transported tens of thousands of enslaved Africans to the Americas, operating out of forts along the coast of present-day Ghana.
By the early 18th century, the RAC had lost its monopoly, and private merchants were increasingly engaging in African trade. However, the company still retained commercial prestige and royal connections. Being made a freeman of the company—especially in 1720, during a brief surge of speculative financial ventures—was a marker of economic ambition and social capital.
That same year saw the collapse of the South Sea Bubble, and many investors were drawn to colonial companies that promised steady profit from overseas ventures. While we don’t know if Stephen Wiggin actively traded under the company’s auspices, his association with it places him in the orbit of global commerce, investment, and empire.
In 1745, Stephen Wiggin gave his residence as Baker’s Coffee House, Exchange Alley. It’s a detail that speaks volumes. Exchange Alley—sometimes called 'Change Alley—was a narrow thoroughfare connecting Cornhill and Lombard Street, and by the 18th century, it was the epicentre of London’s financial life.
This small maze of coffee houses became the birthplace of some of Britain’s most important institutions:
Among the most popular venues were Jonathan’s, Garraway’s, and Baker’s, where Stephen Wiggin resided. These were not mere cafés—they were dynamic trading floors, where merchants read the latest shipping news, speculated on stocks and lotteries, and formed business partnerships. Coffee houses served as bulletin boards, offices, exchanges, and even post offices for the men who crowded into them daily.
That Wiggin, a wax chandler by trade, operated from Exchange Alley suggests he was not a simple shopkeeper. He was a man embedded in the energy of London’s speculative economy—selling not only candles, perhaps, but also investing, trading, or financing ventures with the city’s mercantile elite.
Together, the Royal African Company and Exchange Alley represent two powerful forces of 18th-century Britain:
Stephen Wiggin’s connections to both these institutions—by freemanship and by residence—place him within the broader story of how empire and economy shaped personal fortunes and national power.
From the candlelit parlours of London to the sugar plantations of the Caribbean, the shadows of these institutions stretch long. And within those shadows walked thousands of men like Wiggin—craftsmen, merchants, adventurers—whose names survive in wills, ledgers, and registers, waiting to tell their part of the story.
Linda EYE on the PAST
Related Reading
• Stephen Wiggin: The Wax Chandler of Exchange Alley
• Mary Wiggin and the Curious Case of a Fleet Marriage
