David Williams Higgins (30 November 1834 – 30 November 1917) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

newspaperman, politician, and author. Born in Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, the son of William B. Higgins and Mary Anne Williams, Higgins moved to

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

with his parents and was educated there. He went to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

in 1852 and in 1856 he founded the ''Morning Call'' newspaper, which he sold in 1858 when he moved to

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. He settled in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. Th ...

and was editor and proprietor of the ''British Colonist''. He organized and was first president of the Victoria fire department and was a member of the Board of Education from 1866 to 1869. He was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is the deliberative assembly of the Parliament of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The Legislative Assembly meets in Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria. Members ar ...

for the electoral district of

Esquimalt The Township of Esquimalt is a municipality at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. It is bordered to the east by the provincial capital, Victoria, British Columbia, Victoria, to the south by the Strait of Juan de ...

in 1886. He was re-elected in

1890 Events January–March * January 1 ** The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony, in the Horn of Africa. ** In Michigan, the wooden steamer ''Mackinaw'' burns in a fire on the Black River. * January 2 ** The steamship ...

and

1898 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, B ...

. From 1890 to 1898, he was

Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia The Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is the presiding officer of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. The office of Speaker in British Columbia The Speaker is elected by the Members of the Legislative Assembly ("M ...

. He was defeated in

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15), 2 ...

. He later wrote two books of fictionalized reminisces: ''The mystic spring and other tales of western life'' (Toronto, 1904) and ''The passing of a race and more tales of western life'' (Toronto, 1905). His daughter Maude Erve Higgins moved to Los Angeles, was a screenwriter, and married Thomas Corsan, becoming Maude Erve Corsan. His other daughter became Elizabeth Raymur.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, David 1834 births 1917 deaths Canadian memoirists Journalists from British Columbia Journalists from Nova Scotia Speakers of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia Writers from Halifax, Nova Scotia Writers from Victoria, British Columbia