Barton Higgs

Griffith was born in about 1589 and baptised at South Stoke, Oxfordshire on 28 Oct 1589, "the day of St Simon & St Jude". [1] He was the son of Griffen Higgs and Sarah Payne. [2]

In 1605, he received a bequest in the will of his father Griffen. .[3]

He was educated at grammar school in Reading, Oxfordshire and then went up to St John's College College, Oxford in 1606. During his time at St John's he was lauded as a student "the flower of the undergraduates of that House, whether for Oratory or Disputations". [4] He matriculated from there on 4 July 1609. He took his BA on 28 Jun 1610 and then his MA in Jun 1615. In 1616 he was elected a Bursar of the college and in 1622 he was one of the University Proctors. On 9 Mar 1625 he was offered the living of Gamlingay in Cambridgeshire, a post he took up. [5]

Griffith's next clerical post was at Cliffe at Hooe in Kent, a lucrative position that he took up in Feb 1630. It appears though that he appointed a curate, John Robinson, to do the work of the parish while he went to the Netherlands to become the personal chaplain to Elizabeth 'Winter', Queen of Bohemia who was a daughter to James I of England. [6] Elizabeth and her family were living as refugees from Prague, after the siege of that place. [7] While in the Netherlands, Griffith continued his studies at Leyden, where he read for a Doctor of Divinity or DD. Higgs kept detailed diaries and these show that the Court of Elizabeth moved between The Hague and Rhenen, depending on the time of year. [8] After twelve years' service to the Winter Queen, Griffith was recalled to England.

Although the Winter Queen was poor, she was able to use her influence with the English Court to seek preferment as a reward for Griffin's services to her family. In 1631, Griffin was awarded the Precentorship of St David's Cathedral in Wales. This was followed in 1638 by the Deanery of the cathedral at Lichfield. [9] He was also appointed Chaplain Ordinary to King Charles.

As Dean of Lichfield, Griffith had to make some difficult choices once the King's Peace was broken and the Civil War was underway. He was bound by his gratitude and long service to the Royal family but he also owed a debt of gratitude to Archbishop Laud for some of his more lucrative positions and the old ties of St John's College where they had been contemporaries. In the spring of 1642, Lichfield was twice under siege by the Parliamentary army and Griffith recorded details of the sacking of the cathedral in his diaries. [10] Some time after this he moved back to Oxfordshire and he was in Oxford when it surrendered to the troops of Lord Fairfax in Jun 1646.

In 1647 Griffith's personal estate was valued by parliamentary commissioners at about £4000. He was able to save much of it by paying a fine of £480. [11] With what remained of his assets he enriched Merton College Oxford through the donation of his extensive library; set up a charitable school at South Stoke and endowed that parish with money for the poor. [12] He also left substantial amounts to his relatives. He can be considered lucky to have escaped with so little loss to his personal wealth in the aftermath of the Civil War, when so many of his fellow Deans were reduced to penury by the parliamentary commissioners. [13]

After the vicissitudes of the Civil War, he retired quietly to South Stoke. Local tradition was that he used to drive around the countryside drawn by a pair of white mules which he kept tethered in the great brick pigeon cote at Barre Place! [14]Other than his charitable bequests, kinfolk named in his will were: [15]

Barton Higgs, second son of my brother Barton Griffith Higgs, son of John Higgs Barton Higges, my eldest brother his wife (not named) my sister in law their eldest son Griffith Higgs their third son John Higgs their daughter Elianor their daughter Marie their daughter Sara their daughter Elizabeth their daughter Magdalen my eldest sister Mary Jemmet my sister in law Ann, wife of my brother Nicholas dec. the wife of my nephew Richard Wilder of Goring, Oxfordshire, yeoman. son of my sister Magdalen Browne, recently deceased my nephew George Jemmet of Shiplake, Oxfordshire my nephew Nicholas Higgs of Thatcham, Berkshire son of my brother Nicholas He died on 16 Dec 1659 and was buried in the chancel at South Stoke on 19 Dec 1659, [16] where a fine monument commemorates his life and death. [17][18]The monument depicts Griffith with bible in hand and a long Latin inscription which translates as:

Griffin Higgs, a son happily born to Griffin Higgs and Sarah Pain, daughter of Robert Pain of Caversham, in the County of Oxford. he was baptised on the St. calendar Day of St Simon & St Jude, near Stoke Abbas (South Stoke) in the same County, in the year of human salvation restored 1589. His paternal grandfather was a certain Nicholas Higgs ( his grandmother being Mary Barton) sprung from a noble branch of the Higgs family near Gloucester; he having accompanied his uncle Walter from Weobley in the County of Hereford, as far as Stoke Abbas, took up his abode there and left descendants alike rich and numerous."

That Griffin Higgs after acquiring the first principals of classical learning, in as much as he obtained distinction in Logic and philosophy under Dr Tilsey his tutor in St John's College, Oxford, was received into the illustrious Fellowship of the College of Merton in the year 1611, and in the year 1622 was elected to the Mastership of the Academy.

Afterwards in 1617 he was sent by His Majesty King Charles to be Chaplain to his sister Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia. When he had discharged that office successfully for a period of twelve years, and had been made a Dr of Divinity at Leyden, after a series of remarkable public examinations under the auspices of the renowned Andrew Rivet, he was at length recalled to England by the same King Charles at the instigation of the Archbishop of Canterbury. There he was promoted to the Rectory of the Church of Clive in Kent, to the Preceptorship of St David's, and to the Deanery of Lichfield, being also Chaplain Ordinary to the King. The Lichfield Cathedral he greatly beautified at much personal charge.

Later on when the Civil War had broken out and waxed great all over England, and those who had espoused the king's cause, to which he had remained staunch with unconquerable Devotion, had been vanquished he was stripped of all his Ecclesiastical preferments and mulcted in fines for his loyalty.

Thereupon when full alike of honours and of years, he withdrew from the world slighted for conscience sake, to Stoke Abbas, (since that was his native place) that there he might devote his whole time to God and study. At last, when he had bequeathed what remained of his worldly goods in part to his brothers and sisters, and in part for the perpetual benefit of the poor of Stoke, and the students of Merton and St John's Colleges, Oxford, he after being a celibate for 70 years, yielded up his bodily remains to his Mother Jessie (Mother of Jesus) and his soul most devoutly to his God and Father in Christ.

He died December 16th 1659 Who gave to the Church £100 to buy land for ye Poore, and £600 pounds to buy land for ye maintenance of a free school for ever. [19]

Sources ↑ Higgs, W. Miller (William Miller), 1878 A history of the Higges, or Higgs family of South Stoke, in the county of Oxford and of Thatcham, in the county of Berks and their descendants; being also a record of one of the yeoman families of England pg 17 Archive.org ↑ Ancestry.com. Oxfordshire, England, Church of England Baptism, Marriages, and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. Oxfordshire Family History Society; Oxford, Oxfordshire, England; Anglican Parish Registers; Reference Number: BOD254_b_1 Ancestry Record 61056 #264257 ↑ Ancestry.com. England & Wales, Prerogative Court of Canterbury Wills, 1384-1858 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. The National Archives; Kew, England; Prerogative Court of Canterbury and Related Probate Jurisdictions: Will Registers; Class: PROB 11; Piece: 111 Ancestry Record 5111 #882890 ↑ Higgs, W. Miller (William Miller), 1878 A history of the Higges, or Higgs family of South Stoke, in the county of Oxford and of Thatcham, in the county of Berks and their descendants; being also a record of one of the yeoman families of England pg 20 Archive.org ↑ Morrish, P.S. Dr. Griffin Higgs, 1589-1659 - Oxoniensia pg 118-119 Oxoniensia ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Griffin Higgs," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Griffin_Higgs&oldid=9025... (accessed June 22, 2019). ↑ Higgs, W. Miller (William Miller), 1878 A history of the Higges, or Higgs family of South Stoke, in the county of Oxford and of Thatcham, in the county of Berks and their descendants; being also a record of one of the yeoman families of England pg 22 Archive.org ↑ Morrish, P.S. Dr. Griffin Higgs, 1589-1659 - Oxoniensia pg 121-124 Oxoniensia ↑ Morrish, P.S. Dr. Griffin Higgs, 1589-1659 - Oxoniensia pg 121-124 Oxoniensia ↑ Morrish, P.S. Dr. Griffin Higgs, 1589-1659 - Oxoniensia pg 127 Oxoniensia ↑ Wikipedia contributors, "Griffin Higgs," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Griffin_Higgs&oldid=9025... (accessed June 22, 2019). ↑ "Parishes: South Stoke," in A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 7, Dorchester and Thame Hundreds, ed. Mary Lobel (London: Victoria County History, 1962), 93-112. British History Online, accessed June 22, 2019, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol7/pp93-112. ↑ Morrish, P.S. Dr. Griffin Higgs, 1589-1659 - Oxoniensia pg 121-124 Oxoniensia ↑ Higgs, W. Miller (William Miller), 1878 A history of the Higges, or Higgs family of South Stoke, in the county of Oxford and of Thatcham, in the county of Berks and their descendants; being also a record of one of the yeoman families of England pg 29 Archive.org Griffith made his will in the summer of 1659 when he was in his seventieth year. ↑ Higgs, W. Miller (William Miller), 1878 A history of the Higges, or Higgs family of South Stoke, in the county of Oxford and of Thatcham, in the county of Berks and their descendants; being also a record of one of the yeoman families of England pg 39 Archive.org ↑ Ancestry.com. Oxfordshire, England, Church of England Baptism, Marriages, and Burials, 1538-1812 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. Oxfordshire Family History Society; Oxford, Oxfordshire, England; Anglican Parish Registers; Reference Number: BOD254_b_1 Ancestry Record 61056 #265889 ↑ "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVLG-N3XY : 13 December 2015), Griffith Higgs, ; Burial, South Stoke, South Oxfordshire District, Oxfordshire, England, St Andrew Church; citing record ID 105052134, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com. ↑ Higgs, W. Miller (William Miller), 1878 A history of the Higges, or Higgs family of South Stoke, in the county of Oxford and of Thatcham, in the county of Berks and their descendants; being also a record of one of the yeoman families of England pg 46 [1] ↑ Higgs, W. Miller (William Miller), 1878 A history of the Higges, or Higgs family of South Stoke, in the county of Oxford and of Thatcham, in the county of Berks and their descendants; being also a record of one of the yeoman families of England pg 46 [2]