Basic Biographical Details Name: | Henry Higgins | Designation: | | Born: | 1848 | Died: | 9 June 1922 | Bio Notes: | Henry Higgins was born in 1848, the son of Henry Higgins, warehouseman, and his wife Jane Murdoch Cameron and served a five-year apprenticeship to an unspecified firm, subsequently acting as principal assistant for five years, of which at least the last two were spent in the Glasgow office of James Boucher. In 1875 Boucher took him into partnership, the style of the firm now becoming Boucher & Higgins. On 14 February 1878 he married Jane Allan Campbell at Partick. Higgins's son G H Higgins thereafter joined the practice, but seems to have died sometime after 1892 when he designed Temple Church at Anniesland.
Higgins continued to practise alone after Boucher's death in 1906 until he died of cancer on 9 June 1922. He was buried at Glasgow Necropolis, Prunus, Lair 141. He left moveable estate of £796 12s 6d.
Higgins's practice consisted mailny of churches, houses and public schools in Glasgow, Renfrewshire, Dunbartonshire, Argyllshire and Ayrshire. It was continued at a much reduced level by another son, Henry Edward Higgins (born 1878), who was apprenticed, probably to his father, from 1901 to 1906, studying at Glasgow School of Art and remaining with his father as assistant after completing his apprenticeship.
Despite his large practice Boucher never sought election to the Royal Institute of British Architects, but Higgins and his surviving son were elected LRIBA in 1911, the former mustering Thomas Lennox Watson, William Forsyth McGibbon and Professor Alexander McGibbon as proposers, and the latter securing the support of John Bennie Wilson and the Glasgow Institute of Architects. Both Higgins lived in Bearsden, the father at Rosengarten and the son at Coila. The practice was based at 248 West George Street, Glasgow. | Private and Business AddressesThe following private or business addresses are associated with this : | | Address | Type | Date from | Date to | Notes | | 8, Franklin Terrace, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | 1872 * | 1878 | | | 243, St Vincent Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | 1879 | 1880 | | | 252, West George Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | 1888 | 1890 | | | Rosengarten, Bearsden, Glasgow, Scotland | Private | 1888 | 1922 | | | 247, St Vincent Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | 1894 * | 1895 | | | 248, West George Street, Glasgow, Scotland | Business | 1899 * | 1920 | |
* earliest date known from documented sources.
Employment and TrainingEmployersThe following individuals or organisations employed or trained this (click on an item to view details): | | Name | Date from | Date to | Position | Notes | | James Boucher | c. 1873 | 1875 | Assistant | | | Boucher & Higgins | 1875 | 1892(?) | Partner | Continued alone thereafter |
Employees or Pupils
RIBARIBA Proposers
Buildings and Designs
ReferencesBibliographic ReferencesThe following books contain references to this : | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | Johnston, W T | 2003 | Artists of Scotland | | Officina Publications CDROM | |
Archive ReferencesThe following archives hold material relating to this : | | Source | Archive Name | Source Catalogue No. | Notes | | RIBA Archive, Victoria & Albert Museum | RIBA Nomination Papers | | L v11 no632 (microfilm reel 33) |
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