Francis Higgins, also called the "Sham Squire", (1746 – 19 January 1802) was an Irish newspaper proprietor and spy.

Biography

Higgins was the son of humble parents, who migrated from

Downpatrick Downpatrick () is a town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the Lecale peninsula, about south of Belfast. In the Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Dál Fiatach, the main ruling dynasty of Ulaid. Down Cathedral, Its cathedral is sai ...

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. Higgins passed his early years in menial employments, became an attorney's clerk, was converted to Protestantism, and, by practising gross deception, married a respectable lady, whose relatives in 1766 prosecuted him for fraud. Higgins was convicted, and was for some time imprisoned. To this incident was attributed Higgins's sobriquet of the ‘Sham Squire.’ After his release he formed lucrative connections with lottery-offices and gambling-houses. He was admitted an attorney at Dublin in 1780, and secured the posts of deputy-coroner and under-sheriff. Higgins became owner of the newspaper styled ‘

The Freeman's Journal The ''Freeman's Journal'', which was published continuously in Dublin from 1763 to 1924, was in the nineteenth century Ireland's leading nationalist newspaper. History Patriot journal It was founded in 1763 by Charles Lucas and was identified ...

,’ which, with his own services, he placed at the disposal of the administrators of the government at Dublin. Thenceforth Higgins continuously assailed in his paper the opponents of the government, and

Henry Grattan Henry Grattan (3 July 1746 – 4 June 1820) was an Irish politician and lawyer who campaigned for legislative freedom for the Irish Parliament in the late 18th century from Britain. He was a Member of the Irish Parliament (MP) from 1775 to 18 ...

denounced in parliament the mendacities and unscrupulous conduct of the journal. In 1788 Higgins was appointed a magistrate by Lord-chancellor Lifford. John Magee, in his paper, the ‘ Dublin Evening Post,’ published numerous satires in prose and verse on Higgins and his associate,

Richard Daly Richard Daly (1758–1813) was an Irish actor and theatrical manager who, between 1786 and 1797, held the Royal patent for staging dramatic productions in Dublin and became such a dominant figure in Irish theatre that he was referred to as "Kin ...

. Magee exposed Higgins's antecedents, and denounced him as a venal journalist, a corrupt magistrate, and a proprietor of houses of ill-repute. In 1790 Higgins prosecuted Magee for libel in the court of king's bench. Through Higgins's alleged influence with John Scott, earl of Clonmel, lord chief justice, he obtained, by authority of that court, writs styled ‘fiats,’ under which the defendants were liable to imprisonment till they found surety for the entire amount claimed as damages. These proceedings formed the subject of discussion in the House of Commons of Ireland. Lord-chancellor FitzGibbon removed Higgins from the magistracy in 1791, and in 1794 he was struck off the roll of attorneys. In 1795 he warned the government of a projected attack on the new lord-lieutenant, Lord Camden. Through the under-secretary, Edward Cooke, with whom he had had previous relations, Higgins secretly communicated to the Irish government in 1798 particulars as to persons connected with the revolutionary movements in Ireland. The governmental account of secret service money, under date of 20 June 1798, contains an entry of a payment of 1,000l. to ‘F. H.’ for the discovery of

Lord Edward Fitzgerald Lord Edward FitzGerald (15 October 1763 – 4 June 1798) was an Irish aristocrat and revolutionary proponent of Irish independence from Britain. He abandoned his prospects as a distinguished veteran of British service in the American War of Ind ...

. The initials are those of Higgins. Cooke recommended

Lord Castlereagh Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, (18 June 1769 – 12 August 1822), usually known as Lord Castlereagh, derived from the courtesy title Viscount Castlereagh ( ) by which he was styled from 1796 to 1821, was an Irish-born British st ...

to appropriate a pension of 300l. per annum to Higgins, on the ground that he had given him much information and all the intelligence which had enabled him to effect the arrest of Lord Edward Fitzgerald. Higgins died in affluence at Dublin on 19 January 1802, and was buried in the cemetery of Kilbarrack.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, Francis 1746 births 1802 deaths 18th-century Irish people 19th-century Irish people Irish spies 18th-century Irish lawyers