Identity area
Type of entity
Corporate body
Authorized form of name
Wiggins Male Orphan Institution
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1867-1982
History
The Wiggins Male Orphan Institution was founded and endowed by Stephen Wiggins, a prominent Saint John merchant. Incorporated in 1867, the Home, located on St. James Street, opened in 1876. Although severely damaged in the fire of 1877, it was rebuilt on the same site. In 1922, the Wiggins Institution moved to a house on Mount Pleasant Avenue where it remained until a new Home was constructed, in 1965, on Hawthorne Avenue.
II. The Wiggins Male Orphan Institution, later known as the Stephen Wiggins Home for Boys, was established to care for male orphan and destitute male fatherless children born in Saint John County. In 1895 the Home's sphere of responsibility was extended to the entire province. The Stephen Wiggins Home for Boys was closed in 1982.