Sir Thomas Higgons (1668-1733) was an English Jacobite. From 1713 to 1715 he was the

Jacobite Secretary of State The Secretary of State was one of the senior ministers of the Jacobite court in exile following the Glorious Revolution of 1688. In common with Jacobite attempts to create a shadow court in exile that matched of that in London, the role was ba ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, appointed by James Stuart to replace the long-serving Earl of Middleton.

Background

He was the second son of

Thomas Higgons Sir Thomas Higgons (c 1624 – 24 November 1691) was an English diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1659 and 1687. Life Higgons was the son of Rev. Thomas Higgons, DD, rector of Westbury, Shropshire, ...

, a politician and diplomat, and through his mother Bridget, the grandson of the royalist commander Sir

Bevil Grenville Sir Bevil Grenville (23 March 1596 - 5 July 1643) was an English landowner and soldier who sat as a Member of Parliament for various constituencies between 1620 to 1642, although during those years there were few parliamentary sessions. When t ...

. His younger brother

Bevil Higgons Bevil Higgons (1670–1735) was an English historian and poet, He was born at Kezo. Life Higgons was the third son of Sir Thomas Higgons, by his second wife, Bridget, who was herself the daughter of Sir Bevil Grenville, and widow of Sir Simon Lea ...

became a writer. Denis Grenville was an uncle. The family were staunch supporters of James II. Higgons went into exile in France shortly after the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution; gd, Rèabhlaid Ghlòrmhor; cy, Chwyldro Gogoneddus , also known as the ''Glorieuze Overtocht'' or ''Glorious Crossing'' in the Netherlands, is the sequence of events leading to the deposition of King James II and ...

that overthrew James. In 1692 he crossed back to England with his two brothers to take part in the planned Jacobite uprising to coincide with the projected invasion of Britain, but these plans were wrecked by the French defeat at the

Battle of La Hogue The Battles of Barfleur and La Hougue took place during the Nine Years' War, between 19 May O.S. (29 May N.S.) and 4 June O.S. (14 June N.S.) 1692. The first was fought near Barfleur on 19 May O.S. (29 May N.S.), with later actions occurring ...

. He served as a

courtier A courtier () is a person who attends the royal court of a monarch or other royalty. The earliest historical examples of courtiers were part of the retinues of rulers. Historically the court was the centre of government as well as the official r ...

at the exiled Jacobite court in Saint-Germain. From 1701 onwards he was

Gentleman Usher Gentleman Usher is a title for some officers of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom. See List of Gentlemen Ushers for a list of office-holders. Gentlemen Ushers as servants Historical Gentlemen Ushers were originally a class of servants fou ...

of the

Privy chamber A privy chamber was the private apartment of a royal residence in England. The Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber were noble-born servants to the Crown who would wait and attend on the King in private, as well as during various court activities, f ...

to James III who had succeeded his father in Jacobite eyes.

Secretary of State

When the Earl of Middleton stepped down as Secretary after twenty years, there was a desire to appoint a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

to demonstrate the tolerance of the Catholic James. Higgons was of a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

background. Higgons has been described as a figurehead, with actual power was exercised by the King's half-brother

Duke of Berwick Duke of Berwick () ''()'' is a title that was created in the Peerage of England on 19 March 1687 for James FitzJames, the illegitimate son of James II and VII, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland and Arabella Churchill. The title's name ...

.Szechi p.53 He was succeeded by the more prominent Henry St John who oversaw the

Jacobite Rising of 1715 The Jacobite rising of 1715 ( gd, Bliadhna Sheumais ; or 'the Fifteen') was the attempt by James Edward Stuart (the Old Pretender) to regain the thrones of England, Ireland and Scotland for the exiled Stuarts The House of Stuart, ori ...

References

Bibliography

* Cruickshanks, Eveline. ''The Stuart Court in Exile and the Jacobites''. A&C Black, 1995. * Melville, Henry Massue Ruvigny Et Raineval. ''The Jacobite Peerage, Baronetage, Knightage, and Grants of Honour''. Genealogical Publishing, 2003. * Szechi, Daniel. ''1715: The Great Jacobite Rebellion''. Yale University Press, 2006. 18th-century English people English Jacobites 1668 births 1733 deaths {{England-bio-stub