John Higgins, of Higgins Neuck

Abt 1725 - Abt 1791  (~ 66 years)

• Name	John Higgins
  Relationship	with Marion Murdoch Johnson
  Gender	Male
  Born	Abt 1725
  Died	Abt 1791
  Last Modified	8 Jun 2021

  
  

  Father

  John Higgins           b. Abt 1698

  
  

  Wife	Janet Callander           b. 10 May 1738           d. 17 Jul 1819, Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland, United Kingdom  (Age 81 years)
  Married	29 Apr 1756	Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland, Kingdom of Great Britain   [1]
  Age at Marriage	He was 31, she was 17
  Children	1. Margaret Higgins           b. 15 May 1757   2. Marion "Mary" Higgins           b. 14 Apr 1759           d. 10 Jan 1804  (Age 44 years)   3. Helen Higgins           b. 19 May 1762           d. Abt Jul 1824  (Age 62 years)   4. Janet Higgins           b. 22 Jun 1763, Airth, Stirlingshire, Scotland, Kingdom of Great Britain           d. Bef 1873  (Age < 109 years)   5. John Alexander Higgins, of Neuck           b. Sep 1764           d. 1822  (Age ~ 57 years)
  Last Modified	1 Feb 2019

  
  

• Notes

  Early Life John Higgins was most likely the son of John Higgins (1698-c1753) and an unknown mother (though possibly she was called Isabel Bishop/Bachop). See separate note below for more detailed work on John's pedigree. Career A book (dated 1779) entitled Memorial for Captain John Callendar of Westertown, and John Higgins of Neuk, his factor is available at the British Library in St Pancras. Given that John Higgins married Janet Callander (see Family Life), the sister of John Callander, it seems likely that these are one and the same person and that John Higgins was the estate manager ('factor') for his brother-in-law. Family Life John Higgins married Janet Callander on the 29th of April 1756 at Edinburgh. They had: Margaret, b. 1757 Marion, b. 1759 and who married John Burn of Coldoch Helen, b. 1762 Janet, b. 1763 John Alexader, b. 1764 In passing, it's worth pointing out that there are Airth baptismal records for children of David Higgins and Catherine Callander in the late 1690s / early 1700s, indicating more than one marriage between the Higgins and Callander families. Catherine Callander was probably the daughter of John Callander and Janet Buchanan and so would have been a great-aunt of Janet Callander. Death The date of John Higgins' death is not know, but his will and testament was recorded at Stirling Commissary Court on the 11th of March 1791. He is mentioned as both alive and deceased in 1791, so presumably died early in that year. Higgins Neuck From Notes and Queries1, being a footnote to a letter written in 1718: The small property of Neuk - called by Sibbald "Higgins Nook" - belonged to a family of the name of Higgins. It is situated on the Forth, and now belongs to John Burn Murdoch Esq of Gartincaber. It is said that Higgins family rose by smuggling, and the country people have a story that the Neuk was haunted by "a white lady" - no doubt a rumour circulated by the proprietors to keep away intruders ... Mr Murdoch got the estate from his uncle Mr Higgins3 WS. It appears that there was a ferry across the Forth at Higgins Neuk (the "Higgins Neuk ferry"): Higgins Neuk, its ferry pier and the Keith Arms Inn (used by travellers taking the ferry) can all be seen on old maps, such as this one from 1915 and this one from 1896 and indeed this one from 1860. The buildings seem to have been demolished during the construction of the Kincardine Bridge and now appear to be commemorated, slightly despondently, by a roundabout. From A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland (1846)2: There are two old ferries, called Kersie and Higgin's Neuck, the latter about a mile across, and the former half that distance, at which, on each side of the river, is a pier for the accommodation of passengers at all states of the tide. Just to the west of the modern roundabout is Pow Burn, and old maps (far top right) show a Neuck Farm and a little hamlet called Neuck. This hamlet doesn't appear to exist any longer: the area just being fields and hedges. The Falkirk Local History website has a nice page on Higgin's Neuk: Neuk is Scots for a corner or recess and is consequently often found as a place name....The Neuck in the parish of Airth which is the subject of the present article was owned by the Higgins family for many generations and so part of it became known as Higgins Neuck....The family had initially been connected with Halls of Airth but in 1681 Patrick Higgins received a charter from Richard Elphinstone of Airth of “all and haill that room and mealling of land commonly known as Newk” Finally, an archaelogical dig at Higgins Neuk took place in the mid 2010s, looking for evidence that the location was used as a royal dock for King James IV; there is lots of fascinating detail and reconstruction of the site on these pages. Footnotes - A book to check out: https://www.worldcat.org/title/memorial-for-captain-john-callendar-of-westertown-and-john-higgins-of-neuk-his-factor-chargers-against-charles-gascoigne-esq-suspender/oclc/751725966 [1] See here [2] Available at JSTOR see page 49 [3] This uncle was John Alexander Higgins, the son of John Higgins of this page (see Family Life above) Other links - https://spns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/John-Reids-East-Stirlingshire-place-name-data-v2019.pdf The pedigree of John Higgins of Neuck There is no incontrovertible line of evidence back from John Higgins to his parents. The Higgins family was well established in Airth and many of the sons shared the same set of names; on top of that, the parish baptism records are incomplete. My work on the pedigree of John is based on the data provided by John Reid in his Material for a Place-Name Survey of East Stirlingshire, available online (see page 84 onwards). This contains a number of parish records that give clues as to the succession of Higgins men who took ownership of Higgins Neuk. The John Higgins of this page (who died 1791 - I will refer to him as "John Higgins III") was referred to as "of Neuk" during his lifetime, indicating he was in possession of the Neuk property. Based on this, I infer that John Higgins III was the same "John Higgen now of Neuk as heir to the deceast John Higgen his father" referred to in 1753 RS59/20 (page 86). This latter person ("John Higgins II", the father of John Higgins III) apparently died between 1750 (when he was referred to as still alive) and 1753 (when he was referred to as deceased). There is no unambiguous information on the mother of John Higgins III. Given that John Higgins III had his eldest known child (Margaret) in 1757, he is likely to have been born around 1725-1730. John Higgins II is indicated as the inheritor in 1729 (1729 RS59/15 f.350v) of Neuk from his father, also called John ("John Higgins I"). in 1729 a Marion Hodge is given as the spouse of "John Higgins of Neuck" who I assume is the same person (John Higgins II). Unfortunately I have found no trace of a marrage contract or baptismal records that mention Marion. There are, however, baptismal records for daughters of John Higgins and Isobel Bachop dated 1723-1724; the earlier is for a daughter named Helen, which is a strong hint that either John or Isobel's mother was called Helen; and indeed (see next paragraph) it seems that the mother of John Higgins II was called Helen Cowie. Moving now to the John Higgins I, the father of John Higgins II, the pedigree is clearer; Reid indicates that John Higgins I married Helen Cowie and there are plenty of extant baptismal records for their children, including a John born in 1698 who I believe must be John Higgins II. John Higgins I matches to the "John Higgins eldest lawful son and nearest heir to umquil Patrick Higgins in Airth" of Reid (1700 RS83/2/424) and, again, there are baptismal records for a John, son of Patrick Higgins and Jean Muirhead, in 1672. Patrick Higgins II who married Jean Muirhead is given as the son of another Patrick Higgins I, who married Jonet Cowie, in Reid (1667 RS59/3 49v). Patrick Higgins II married Helen Cowie in 1697, suggesting a date of birth of around 1650. Extrapolating back, Patrick Higgins I would have been born around 1625. I think it's likely that his father was also called Patrick, but haven't yet got around to continuing the pedigree upwards. With these details in place, I have assembled the following the pedigree: The Pedigree of John Higgins of Neuck (e1725-1791) 1. Patrick Higgins - "Patrick Higgins I" (e1625) of Halls of Airth and later (from 1664) of Neuck m. Jonet Cowie 2. Patrick Higgins - "Patrick Higgins II" (e1650-bef. 1700) of Neuck m. 1667 Jean Muirhead, daughter of John Muirhead in Mosside of Kinnaird 3. John Higgins - "John Higgins I" (1672-c1729) of Neuck m. c. 1697 Helen Cowie, daughter of Henry Cowie of Pocknave 4A. John Higgins - "John Higgins II" (1698-betw. 1750 and 1753) of Neuck m. c. 1725 possibly Isobel or Anne Bachop/Bishop 5. John Higgins - "John Higgins III" (e1725-1791) of Neuck m. 1756 Janet Callander 4B. Alexander Higgins1 (1702-) m. Jean Neilson Notes: 1. For a while I had picked Alexander as the father of 5. John Higgins III but based on the information in Reid I believe that Alexander was the uncle of 5. John Higgins III (though Alexander also did have a son called John).

  
  

• Event Map

  Married - 29 Apr 1756 - Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland, Kingdom of Great Britain  = Link to Google Earth

  
  

• Sources

  [S0199] Baronetage of England, The, Rev. William Betham, (London, 1801-1804), Callander of Westertown; Volume 4, pages 398-400.