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

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

newspaperman, politician, and author. Born in Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

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

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

with his parents and was educated there. He went to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

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

Colony of Vancouver Island The Colony of Vancouver Island, officially known as the Island of Vancouver and its Dependencies, was a Crown colony of British North America from 1849 to 1866, after which it was united with the mainland to form the Colony of British Columbia. ...

. He settled in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

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 Legislature of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The other component of the Legislature is the lieutenant governor of British Columbi ...

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 Jua ...

1886 Events January * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British rule in Burma, British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5–January 9, 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson ...

. He was re-elected in

1890 Events January * January 1 – The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony in the Horn of Africa. * January 2 – Alice Sanger becomes the first female staffer in the White House. * January 11 – 1890 British Ultimatum: The Uni ...

and

1898 Events January * 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, Brooklyn, Queen ...

. 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 ...

. 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 ...

. 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 Colony of Vancouver Island people 20th-century 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