Story of a former Verdunite Family

I recently posted a preliminary article on this site on the subject but more details where supplied by William Higgins wich he agreed to share with us.

This is the family history (biography) of the Higgins family. It is the story of a typical working class family that immigraded from Glasgow at the beginning of the 20th century and choose the Pte St Charles/Verdun area to live and raise a family. It all started with William sharing his photos and in particlar the hockey photo of his father wich resulted with the following article wich I translated in french to appear in the Verdun Messager wich hopefully will be published in the days to come.

http///www.messagerverdun.com - Section: Société/Souvenir de Verdun

Guy

 

VERDUN 500 CLUB

The goalkeeper in this excellent 1924 photo is named John Halden Higgins who lived at number 107, 3rd Avenue, Verdun in the 20s. His son, William presently lives in Mississauga Ont. and he e-mailed this photo to me recently as well as his genealogy. We can see that the young players have posed proudly with the trophy that the team recently won.

This photo is one of the oldest photo of a sporting event in Verdun in our possession wich will enrich our archives (SHGV). We can notice the number 500 on the sweaters wich indicates that the team is part of the Verdun 500 Club wich I described in my previous article wich appeared in the Verdun Messager (http://www.messagerverdun.com/ Section Société/Souvenir de Verdun).

Here is the background of the Higgins family:

ALFRED DYKES HIGGINS

Alfred Dykes Higgins

was born in 1878 and his wife Mary Halden was born in 1881 and emigrated from Glasgow, Scotland in 1911 with their son George and their daughter Mary. Alfred was an electrician with the railway in Glasgow and participated in the Boer war in the Lovat Scouts Regiment. They established themselves in Pointe St Charles at 348 Charron Street. Afterwards, the family moved to 107, 3rd Avenue in Verdun in 1920 where Mary Halden died in 1925. Alfred worked as an electrician for the Grand Trunk Railway Company and the CN Railway. Both are buried at the Mount Royal cemetary.

JOHN HALDEN HIGGINS

JOHN HALDEN HIGGINS

, the son of Alfred and the father of William was born in 1913 at 348 Charron Street in Pt St Charles and was baptised at the St Mathews Presbytarian Church at 588 Bourgeoys Street . The family then moved in 1920 to Verdun at 107, 3rd Avenue where Mary Halden died in 1925. John worked for the Northern Electric Cable Company in Montreal then moved at age18 in 1931 to Cooksville Ontario wich changed its name to Mississauga in the 1960s and wich is part of and west of the City of Toronto. John married Geraldine Laver in 1934 and died in 2001 and Geraldine died in 2002, both in Mississauga Ont.

WILLIAM HIGGINS

William Higgins

, the son of John Halden Higgins and of Geraldine Laver was born in 1935 at Mississauga Ont. and married Barbara Marina Clarke and where married at Port Credit Ont. in 1960. They have 2 children, a boy Anthony Higgins and a daughter Jennifer Ann Higgins and where born in Mississauga.

I suggested to William that he visit Montreal and Verdun to retrace the steps of his ancesters and I invited him to visit our society (SHGV) and he plans to make the trip with his wife later this year to visit Montreal, Verdun and no doubt the Mount Royal cemetary where is grand parents are buried.

This is the story amongst so many others of a family that lived in Verdun.

Guy Billard

Société d'Histoire et de Généalogie de Verdun

Source: William Higgins

Multiply Verdun Connections