W.G. Little’s shop on the corner of Fleet Street and Catherine Street.
William Graham Little left a legacy that lived long in Swindon’s history.
William Little was born in Chippenham in 1856, the son of George Little, a linen and woollen draper, and his wife Dinah. William was the fourth of eleven children.
He moved to Swindon when he was 18 and began business as a door to door salesman. His first shop was at 32 Fleet Street where he sold clothes and fabrics.
At the time of the 1881 census he was living at 31/32 Fleet Street, his home for more than 40 years, where he employed his 19-year-old brother Albert as a tailor and cutter and his sister Sealy Anne 23, as his housekeeper.
As the business prospered he was able to build a shop in Faringdon Road. The ghost of an advertisement on the side of the building can still be seen – WGL 1892 draper, milliner.
Little served as a Councillor, a JP and an Alderman during the same period as Reuben George and James ‘Raggy’ Powell.
William Little died in 1927 aged 72. He left an estate of more than £56,000 worth today in the region of £2.5 million.
Little never married and seemed to be distanced from his family. He left his sister Frances (who had been his housekeeper at one point) £100 and the rest of his estate he left to Swindon. His family unsuccessfully contested the will but in 1932 the WG Little Scholarship and Band Concert Fund was established. His money was left in trust ‘for the promotion and advancement of education and recreation among the youth of the town.’
In 1965 an article in the Swindon Advertiser said that grants of £52,000 had been made since 1938. In 2012 a grant of £6,000 was paid to help recreate the Children’s Fete at Faringdon Road Park.
In the past, grants have gone towards helping support students at university but more recently payments have been made to buy uniforms for children of needy families transferring from primary school to secondary school.
William Graham Little was buried on May 10, 1927 in plot D47A Radnor Street Cemetery.
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Radnor Street Cemetery 
Frances, so pleased you have written re WGLittle.
I knew a ewoman who studied at Oxford during WW2. Her tutor was CSLewis! Little Fund paid for her books and accommodation…
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Thank you so much for commenting Martha. I wonder how many others benefitted from the generosity of this gentleman.
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