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John William HIGGINS (1855–1930)
His wife Mrs Emily HIGGINS, née Sides (1852–1909)
Their five sons Hugh Alfred HIGGINS (1885–1887), George Duncan Albert HIGGINS (1884–1897),
Percival HIGGINS (d.1879), William John HIGGINS (1877–1879),
and Thomas Henry Sides HIGGINS (1876–1945)
[Also a mention of Emily’s brother Thomas SIDES (1840–1880)]
St Paul’s section: Row 13, Grave A 20½ [St Paul ref Q11]

 

This is one of a pair of adjoining graves
occupying a double space.
See earlier grave
of his parents,
Joseph & Eliza Higgins

 

Front of gravestone:

 

John William Higgins was born at Jericho House, 57 Walton Street in 1855 and baptised at St Paul’s Church on 3 June. He was the second son of Joseph Higgins, the landlord of Jericho House, and his wife Eliza. In 1871, at the age of 15, John was already helping his father in the business.

Emily Sides was born in St Giles’s Road in 1852 and baptised at St Giles’s Church on 23 May. She was the daughter of the saddler John Sides and his wife Harriet Mathews. Emily’s father died in 1853 when she was a baby, and early in 1871 her mother Mrs Harriet Sides was married in Oxford to her second husband, William Henry Higgins, and so (confusingly) both mother and daughter became Mrs Higgins. At the time of the 1871 census Emily (19) was living with her mother Harriet (52) and her stepfather William (42) and his niece Ellen Higgins (19) at Wolvercote.
For more about Emily's parents and her background, see the grave of John & Harriett Sides

On 17 May 1876 at St Giles's Church, Oxford, John William Higgins married Emily Sides: he was described as a publican of Upper Walton Street (namely of Jericho House), and she was described as the daughter of a deceased gentleman, John Sides, of Little Clarendon Street. They had twelve children:

• Thomas Henry Sides Higgins (born at Jericho House in 1877 and baptised at St Paul’s Church on 25 February)
• William John Higgins (born at Jericho House on 1 July 1878 and and baptised at St Paul’s Church on 28 July);
  died aged 1 year 5 months)
• Percival Higgins (born at Jericho House on 11 August 1879 and privately baptised baptised by St Paul’s Church on the next day, when he died)
• Eva Emily Higgins (born at Jericho House on 7 June 1880 and baptised at St Paul’s Church on 4 July)
• Rose Evelyn Higgins (born at Jericho House on 14 November 1881 and baptised at St Paul’s Church on 25 December)
• Arthur Joseph Higgins (born at Jericho House on 31 January 1883 and baptised at St Paul’s Church on 25 February)
• George Duncan Albert Higgins (born at Jericho House on 20 March 1884 and baptised at St Paul’s Church on 20 April); died aged 13
• Hugh Alfred Higgins (born at Jericho House on 6 November 1885 and baptised at St Paul’s Church on 17 December), died aged 1 year 2 months
• Horace Guy Higgins (born at Jericho House on 5 November 1886 and baptised at St Paul’s Church on 14 December)
• Leonard Charles Higgins (born at Jericho House in 1887/8 and baptised at St Paul’s Church on 16 February)
• Maud Beatrice Higgins (born at Jericho House on 16 June 1892 and baptised at St Paul’s Church on 5 August)
• Harold Archibald Sheriff Higgins (born at Jericho House on 7 February 1896 and baptised at St Paul’s Church on 19 March).

It was probably at the time of his marriage in 1876 that John took over the Jericho House pub from his father Joseph.

Two of John and Emily’s children died in 1879 and are mentioned on the gravestone:

† Percival Higgins died at Jericho House at the age of one day on 13 August 1879 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 15 August (burial recorded in the register of St Paul’s Church).

† William John Higgins died at Jericho House at the age of 1 year 5 months on 2 December 1879 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 7 December (burial recorded in the register of St Paul’s Church).

Emily’s eldest brother Thomas Sides (born in Walsall in 1840) died at Dublin on 14 May 1880 at the age of 40 and is remembered on this family grave.

At the time of the 1881 census John (25) and Emily (28) were living at Jericho House with their first two children Thomas (4) and Eva (nine months), and John was described as the innkeeper. His widowed mother-in-law Mrs Harriet Higgins (63) was acting as their housekeeper, and they had a thirteen-year-old nursemaid.

Another of their children died in 1887:

† Hugh Alfred Higgins died at Jericho House at the age of 1 year 2 months on 21 January 1887 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 26 January (burial recorded in the register of St Paul’s Church).

On 27 April 1889 John Higgins’s mother-in-law, Mrs Harriett Higgins, died at the age of 71 when she died after falling off a chair on which she had climbed in the kitchen at Jericho House.

In about 1890 John William Higgins moved to Wolvercote, but still described himself in the 1891 census as a licensed victualler in Oxford. He and his wife Emily were then living at Rotha in the Woodstock Road, Wolvercote with seven of their children: Thomas (14), Eva (10), Rose (9), Arthur (8), George (7), Horace (4), and Leonard (3), and one servant.

Another of their sons, George, died in 1897:

† George Duncan Albert Higgins died at Rotha, Wolvercote at the age of 13 on 18 March 1897 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 24 March (burial recorded in the register of St Paul’s Church).

By the time of the 1901 census John William Higgins was living 92 Cowley Road with his wife and seven of his children: Eva (20), Rose (19), Arthur (18), Horace (14), Leonard (13), Maud (8), and Harold (5). He now described himself as a brewer’s manager and insurance agent.

The Higgins family had moved to Trinity House in Hollow Way, Temple Cowley by the time of Mrs Emily Higgins’s death in 1909:

† Mrs Emily Higgins née Sides died at Trinity House, Temple Cowley at the age of 57 on 25 September 1909 and was buried at St Sepulchre’s Cemetery with the four of her sons who predeceased her on 30 September (burial recorded in the register of St Paul’s Church).

On 5 October 1910 at St James's Church in Cowley, John William Higgins, described as a retired brewer of Cowley, married his second wife, the widow Sarah Mary Richards of St Paul's parish. At the time of the 1911 census John (56) and Sarah (61) were living at Trinity House, Hollow Way with five of John’s children: Eva (30) and Rose (29); Arthur (28); Maud (18), who was a school teacher; and Harold (15), who was still at school.

John’s fourth son, Arthur Joseph Higgins, who had been “feeble-minded from childhood”, died at 253 Cowley Road at the age of 36 and although his burial on 15 March 1919 is recorded in the parish register of St Paul’s Church, he does not appear to be remembered on the family grave.

John’s second wife, Mrs Sarah Mary Higgins, died at 253 Cowley Road at the age of 70, and her burial on 22 June 1920 is recorded in the St Paul’s parish register but not on the gravestone.

John William Higgins moved to Eastbourne after his wife’s death, and died there in 1930:

† John William Higgins died at Lyndhurst, Milton Road, Eastbourne at the age of 74 on 22 February 1930, and his body must have been brought back to Oxford to be buried in St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 27 February, as his burial is recorded in the register of St Paul’s Church). His name was added to the back of the grave.

His effects came to £5,524 5s. 1d., and probate was granted to his son Thomas Henry Sides Higgins, who was then a police pensioner. Thomas was the last member of the family to be buried in this grave, in 1945:

† Thomas Henry Sides Higgins died at 150 The Moors, Kidlington at the age of 69 on 12 February 1945, and he was buried in St Sepulchre’s Cemetery on 15 March (burial recorded in the register of St Paul’s Church). His name was added to the back of the grave. The length of time between death and burial seems too long, but these are the dates given.