Extra Information From Quiz Committee:
Fred G. Bigham bought a used 1916 Model 'T' Ford truck in August, 1920. It was a time when passenger service was in much demand to take church groups on outings, to ferry spectators to and from sports matches, or family groups between Woodstock and the shores of Lake Erie. Helped by his 10-year-old son Gordon L. Bigham, Fred fitted the flat bed of the truck with removable benches and side curtains and he was in business. In the first year, the Model T carried everything and anything: people, furniture, animal feed, market produce.

That December, a serious ice storm brought down the main long distance phone lines then strung between large poles all along Devonshire Avenue. The mess extended for miles, giving Fred work for some weeks ferrying Bell repairmen and equipment.

In mid-1921, Fred replaced his Model 'T' with a bigger, faster truck, a ‘Reo Speed Wagon’, and added a logo on the cab door, ‘F.G. Bigham Cartage & Passenger Transfer’. The Woodstock Directories of the time continued to list him as ‘Bigham, Fred. G., trucking, 243 Riddell’. By then, 243 Riddell was both a home and a business office.

By 1927, the business now owned two ‘Reo’ trucks, and in that year a new 5-vehicle garage with full basement for storage was built at 409 Admiral. At the same time, Fred moved the family home and his business office to 220 Graham Street. By the next year, 1928, the business had an official name, ‘Bigham The Mover’, though up to the 1940s, people could still hire Bigham to move themselves as well livestock or goods.

From about 1930, Gordon started working for his father. In those years of the ‘Great Depression’, his wages were low but it helped that he lived at home. Encouraged by his son’s obvious commitment to the company, Fred borrowed heavily from family and friends to buy a tractor-trailer in 1935. It was a risky investment , but it put the company on a par with the best moving companies in bigger cities such as London and Toronto. The gamble worked and helped ensure the company’s survival during difficult times.

Before World War II, the garage and storage was relocated to 202 Wellington. During the war years, there was new business, transporting war materials manufactured at Holman Machines Ltd., an English-owned company on theTecumseh Street site where Standard Tube is now. When the end of the war in Europe was declared, a Bigham truck took part in the joyful 'VE' parade through Woodstock to celebrate. But there had been no time to unload its last cargo: tons of empty smoke shell casings en route to another town for more processing.

The bond between father and son led to a 50/50 partnership in 1945. Five years later, the firm incorporated as Bigham The Mover Limited. Now 65, Fred decided to retire and Gordon Bigham took over as owner and president. By that time, 1950, the business had moved its office to where the garage and storage were at 202 Wellington. Now working in association with Allied Van Lines, its business specialized in the movement of household goods. This association with a national company made it easier for Bigham The Mover to use its vehicles more efficiently. It was now possible to schedule a paying load not only when any of its vehicles left for another destination but also when it returned.

In 1977, Howard Bigham, grandson of the founder, became the third generation Bigham to be company president. Then, in 1980, he moved the company to its current site at 400 Springbank Ave. South.

Sources:
- Phyllis Coulter, ‘Company Has Been On The Move For 7 Decades’, Daily Sentinel-Review, Sat. March 26, 1994 (Woodstock Museum Archives)
- Vernon Woodstock Directories, 1920-1998 (Woodstock Public Library)
- Doug Symons, ‘The Village That Straddled A Swamp’ (Oxford Historical Society)
- Howard T. Bigham, President, Bigham The Mover Ltd.