| Notes on the Higginson Family |
A marriage at the Quaker meeting house in Shutford [near Banbury, Oxfordshire],
13 May 1766:
Joseph Higginson of Coventry, baker, son of
John Higginson of Coventry, baker, deceased, and his wife Ann; and
Elizabeth Fowler of Banbury, Oxfordshire, spinster, daughter of
John Fowler of Banbury, tobacconist, and his wife Mary, deceased.
(National Archives (TNA) reference: RG6/1332, online access at
Non-Conformist Records,
TheGenealogist 
).
Society of Friends [Quaker] Registers
(National Archives (TNA) reference: RG6/995, online access at TheGenealogist).
Children of Joseph Higginson, baker, and Elizabeth his wife,
born in the parish of St Michael, Coventry, Warwickshire.
| Birth date | Name |
| 9 Mar 1768 | Mary Higginson |
| 11 Apr 1770 | Rebekah Higginson |
| 22 Mar 1775 | Hannah Higginson |
A son John Higginson appears to have been born about 1773 – a burial for John Higginson in May 1822 gave his age as 49 (see below). He was mentioned in the will of his mother Elizabeth (see below). A birth record for John Higginson has not been found.
It appears that the Higginson family settled in London.
Joseph Higginson, aged 41, of Mile End, Stepney [East London],
a member of the Coventry Monthly-Meeting, died 13 May 1778,
buried 17 May 1778
at the Friends Burying-Ground [Quaker] at Brook Street, Ratcliffe
(National Archives (TNA) reference: RG6/1168C, online access at TheGenealogist).
His widow Elizabeth remarried, on 11 February 1781, at
St Mary, Newington Southwark:
Joshua Cubbidge, bachelor, and Elizabeth Higginson, widow;
both of the parish; by banns;
witnesses: Finey Read, Phillip Robinson.
Banns of marriage were published on 23 July, 30 July, and 6 August 1780.
(London Marriages, London Metropolitan Archives, Ancestry online).
Before her marriage to Joshua Cubbidge, Elizabeth was established as a cork-cutter in St Thomas Street, Southwark. A notice in the London Gazette, 29 July 1780:
Southwark, 27 July 1780.
The partnership between Elizabeth Higginson and Richard Tongue, of St Thomas’s Street, Southwark, cork-cutters, was this day dissolved by mutual consent. All persons having any demands on the said partnership, or indebted thereto, are to settle the same with the said Elizabeth Higginson, who in future will carry on the business in St Thomas’s Street, on her own account; and returns thanks to her former friends and customers, hoping for a continuance of their future favours. Witness our hands,
Elizabeth Higginson, Richard Tongue.[Note: The will of Richard Tongue, cork-cutter of St Saviour Southwark, was probated in the PCC on 10 January 1803].
How did Elizabeth Higginson get into the cork-cutter trade? This would be interesting to know!
Quaker births registered at the Monthly Meeting of Horsleydown, Surrey
(National Archives (TNA) reference: RG6/684, online access at TheGenealogist).
Children of Joshua Cubbidge, and his wife Elizabeth of
Thomas Street
in the parish of St Thomas, Southwark, Surrey.
| Birth date | Name | Occupation of father |
| 11 Apr 1782 | Twin daughters:
Elizabeth & Sarah Cubbidge | baker |
| 16 Jul 1784 | Thomas Cubbidge | not stated |
| 18 Dec 1786 | Jane Cubbidge | not stated |
| 26 Apr 1791 | Elizabeth Cubbidge | cork-cutter |
In 1787, in the space of one month, three children of Joshua and Elizabeth Cubbidge,
cork-cutter, of Thomas Street in the parish of St Thomas Southwark,
died of smallpox and were buried in the Friends burying-ground [Quaker]
at Worcester Street, Southwark.
| Name | Age | Died | Buried |
| Thomas Cubbidge | two years and 9 months | 20 March 1787 | 23 March 1787 |
| Sarah Cubbidge | five years | 10 April 1787 | 15 April 1787 |
| Elizabeth Cubbidge | five years | 15 April 1787 | 20 April 1787 |
"the parents were formerly members of Society, but were disowned."
(Register of Burials for the Quarterly Meeting of London and Middlesex,
TNA reference: RG6/670, online access at TheGenealogist).
On 4 March 1790, Joshua Cubbidge of St Thomas Street was
registered as a patient at St Thomas’s Hospital
(London Lives online database).
Possibly he had ongoing health problems.
He died tragically on 8 October 1796 as described in a report of a
coroner’s inquest.
On this day, ‘not being of sound mind, memory, and understanding but
lunatic and distracted’, he hung himself from a beam in
his warehouse in Christopher Inn Yard, Southwark.
Hugh Coward, an apprentice to Joshua Cubbidge, cork-cutter, of
No. 2 St Thomas’s Street, Southwark, found his master dead.
(City of London Coroners: Coroners’ Inquests into Suspicious Deaths,
10 October 1796,
London Lives online database).
Joshua Cubbage [Cubbidge] was buried 12 October 1796 at
St Thomas Southwark, Surrey.
(London parish registers, London Metropolitan Archives, Ancestry online).
It appears that his widow Elizabeth continued to run the cork-cutter business at St Thomas Street, Southwark.
Elizabeth Cubbidge – PCC Will (National Archives)
will dated 24 July 1806,
probate date 8 February 1808.
Elizabeth Cubbidge, aged 62, cork-cutter, of St Thomas, Southwark,
died 24 January 1808, buried 31 January 1808,
in the Friends Burying-Ground [Quaker] at Long Lane, Bermondsey.
(Register of Burials belonging to the Monthly Meeting of
Horsleydown, Southwark,
TNA reference: RG6/424; and
Register of Burials belonging to the Quarterly Meeting of
London and Middlesex,
TNA reference: RG6/956;
online access at TheGenealogist).
Will Summary
- Elizabeth Cubbidge of St Thomas Street, Southwark, widow, cork-cutter.
- five children:
daughter Mary, wife of Thomas Wyatt of Kelvedon in Essex.
daughter Rebecca, wife of John Robinson.
son John Higginson.
daughter Jane Cubbidge.
daughter Elizabeth Cubbidge. - children of John and Rebecca Robinson:
son John Robinson and daughter Elizabeth Robinson. - granddaughter Elizabeth Martin.
- grandson Stephen Martin.
- daughter Rebecca Robinson "should have all my furniture, linen, and all belongings to see in my apartment in Harleyford Street, South Lambeth."
- friend Thomas Sturge of Newington.
Statement by Thomas Knight, carpenter of Gregory Place, Maze Pond, in the parish of St Thomas, Southwark, Surrey.
[Gregory's Place, New Way, Maze, Borough is named in
Lockie's Topography of London, 1810 (Internet Archive
Statement by William Coombe.
Mary Higginson’s first husband was Silas Martin; her second husband was Thomas Wyatt. The marriage records, transcribed next, give confirmation of family history.
A marriage at the Quaker meeting house in Gracechurch Street,
London, 24 Nov 1790:
Silas Martin, carpenter of Snowsfields, Southwark, son of Silas Martin, yeoman,
late of Gillingham, Dorsetshire, and his wife Sarah, both deceased; and
Mary Higginson, daughter of Joseph Higginson, baker, late of Coventry,
deceased, and his wife Elizabeth, now the wife of Joshua Cubbidge.
(Register of Marriages belonging to the Quarterly Meeting
of London and Middlesex,
TNA references: RG6/965 and RG6/1614,
online access at TheGenealogist).
A marriage at the Quaker meeting house in Red Cross Street, Southwark, 14 Mar 1805:
Thomas Wyatt, currier of Kelvedon, Essex, son of Samuel Wyatt,
woolen manufacturer of Kelvedon, and his wife Hannah; and
Mary Martin, widow of Silas Martin, late of Blackman Street, daughter of
Joseph Higginson, baker, of Coventry, and his wife Elizabeth.
(Register of Marriages for the Monthly Meeting of Horsleydown, Southwark,
Surrey,
TNA reference: RG6/539, online access at TheGenealogist).
A marriage at All Hallows Staining, London, 28 May 1795:
John Ignatius Robinson, bachelor of the parish, and
Rebecca Higginson, spinster of the parish of St Thomas, Southwark;
by licence. witnesses: Thomas Watkins, Johannah Watkins.
(London Marriages, London Metropolitan Archives, Ancestry online).
Births of the children of John and Rebecca Robinson were
registered in the Quaker meeting house in Horsleydown, Southwark
(see notes on the Robinson family).
The birth registrations revealed that John Robinson was a cork-cutter
of Thomas’s Street, Southwark. So he may have been
a business partner with his mother-in-law Elizabeth.
A Suffolk marriage licence bond, 11 February 1796:
John Higginson, cork-cutter, singleman, and Catherine Crisp,
singlewoman, minor;
both of Walton [Suffolk]. To be married at Walton.
(Suffolk Archives online).
Children of John Higginson, cork-cutter, and Catherine Sophia.
Quaker births registered at the Monthly Meeting of Horsleydown, Southwark
(National Archives (TNA) reference: RG6/423,
online access at TheGenealogist ).
Birth date Name Where born
15 Apr 1797 William Higginson, near the Halfway House, Kent Road.
[died 23 Apr 1798, aged 1 year,
residence: Crosby Row, Snowsfields,
buried Long Lane, Bermondsey, 27 Apr 1798
(TNA reference: RG6/424, online access at TheGenealogist)]
06 Jun 1799 John Higginson, Crosby Row, Snowsfields.
19 Sep 1801 Catherine Sophia Higginson, Blackman Street, Southwark.
19 Sep 1804 William Higginson, Blackman Street, Southwark.
14 Apr 1807 Joseph Higginson, Blackman Street, Southwark.
Non-Conformist Births: Society of Friends [Quaker]
Register of Births belonging to the Quarterly Meeting (QM) of London
(National Archives (TNA) reference: RG6/801, online access at TheGenealogist).
Birth date
11 Aug 1809 Elizabeth Higginson, dau of John Higgginson, cork-cutter,
and Catherine his wife; Mary Kemball, midwife;
birthplace: Mark Lane in the parish of All Hallows Staining,
City of London.
05 Aug 1811 Henry Fowler Higginson, son of John Higgginson, cork-cutter,
and Catherine his wife; Mary Kemball, midwife;
birthplace: Mark Lane in the parish of All Hallows Staining,
City of London.
Note: Henry born in 1811, was given the middle name Fowler. This was the maiden name of Elizaeth who married Joseph Higginson (see the marriage record transcribed above). This provides evidence of Elizabeth’s relationship as the paternal grandmother.
A baptism at St Dionis Backchurch, London:
Eliza Mary Higginson, born 31 Aug 1813, baptised 10 May 1835,
daughter of John and Catherine Higginson, cork-cutter,
residence: Bell Court, Fenchurch Street.
(London parish registers, London Metropolitan Archives, Ancestry online).
John Higginson – PCC Will (National Archives)
will dated 2 May 1822.
probate date 12 June 1822.
John Higginson, of Mark Lane, aged 49, was buried on 26 May 1822 at
All Hallows Staining, London
(London burials, London Metropolitan Archives, Ancestry online).
Will Summary
- John Higginson, No 6 Mark Lane in the parish of All Hallows Staining in the City of London, cork-cutter.
- beloved wife Catherine Sophia Higginson, sole executrix, trusted to look after the interests of their "dear children".
- witnesses: J. N. Waylett, James Chesling.
The widow of John Higginson, Catherine Sophia Higginson, of Star Alley,
aged 74, was buried on 11 June 1846 at All Hallows Staining, London
(London burials, London Metropolitan Archives, Ancestry online).
Catherine’s son William Higginson was born in September 1804 (see the records above).
The London Gazette, 18 January 1831, published a notice of hearings of prisoners, for the relief of insolvent debtors, at the Court House in Portugal Street, Lincoln’s-Inn-Fields on 9 February 1831, that included:
William Higginson, formerly of No. 6 Mark Lane, afterwards of No. 7 Star Alley, Fenchurch Street, both in the City of London, cork-cutter, and lastly of Richards Place, Haggerston Bridge, Shoreditch [East London], as my private residence, and of Ball Alley, Lombard Street, in the City of London, cork-cutter, as my place of business.
The Post Office London Directory, 1830, had an entry for
William Higginson,
cork-manufacturer, 7 Star Alley, Fenchurch Street.
William Higginson, cork-manufacturer, 11 Ball Alley, Lombard Street,
was listed in the annual Post Office London Directories
published over 1831 to 1839.
Ball Alley was also spelled as Bell Alley.
In some years his profession was stated as cork-cutter.
(London Directories, London Metropolitan Archives and Guildhall Library,
Ancestry online).
A burial in the united parish of St Benet Gracechurch and
St Leonard Eastcheap,
City of London, 20 March 1838:
William Higginson, aged 35, of Peckham Fields, Surrey,
buried in the churchyard of St Leonard Eastcheap.
(London burials, London Metropolitan Archives, Ancestry online).
A death of William Higginson, aged 34, was registered, in 1838, in the
Camberwell district [then part of the county of Surrey, now in south London] .
(GRO onlne index – a copy of the death registration can be ordered for
more information).
It is not known if he was the cork-cutter William Higginson.
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