1. George Higginson was the son of General George Powell Higginson, Grenadier Guards, who distinguished himself at the Battle of Corunna, and Lady Frances Elizabeth, daughter of Francis Needham, 1st Earl of Kilmorey.
19 Facts About George Higginson
1. 2.
George Higginson spent his childhood in West London, which at that time consisted of villages and fields, and was educated at Eton College.
3.
On 14 February 1845, George Higginson was commissioned by purchase in the 1st Regiment of the Grenadier Guards with the regimental rank of ensign.
4.
George Higginson was promoted by purchase to regimental lieutenant on 12 July 1850.
5.
George Higginson was appointed as the regimental adjutant on 5 December 1851.
6.
George Higginson participated in the battles of Alma, Balaclava and Inkerman, having his horse shot from under him at Inkerman.
7.
George Higginson was promoted to the brevet rank of major in the army on 12 December 1854.
8.
George Higginson was present at the siege and fall of Sebastopol, following which he served as Brigade Major of his regiment, until the end of the war.
9.
George Higginson was promoted to brevet lieutenant colonel in the army on 2 November 1855, and was promoted by purchase to lieutenant colonel on 10 April 1857.
10.
George Higginson spent time in the United States during the American Civil War, where he had family ties.
11.
George Higginson was promoted to the brevet rank of colonel on 30 September 1863, to regimental major on 10 July 1870 and to regimental lieutenant colonel on 15 September 1877.
12.
George Higginson was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 1871 Birthday Honours.
13.
George Higginson was promoted to lieutenant general on 1 April 1883.
14.
George Higginson served as Lieutenant of the Tower of London from 1888 to 1893.
15.
George Higginson was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1889 Birthday Honours, promoted to general on 11 October 1890, and retired on 21 June 1893 after 38 years of service.
16.
George Higginson was a personal friend of the Royal Family, and had close ties with King Edward VII.
17.
George Higginson was associated for many years with the Gordon Boys' Home at West End near Woking, Surrey, which was founded as the national memorial to Major General Charles Gordon, who was killed at Khartoum, Sudan, in 1885.
18.
George Higginson wrote an autobiography in 1916, entitled 71 Years of a Guardsman's Life.
19.
George Higginson died in February 1927, and his funeral, with full military honours, was described by observers as the grandest Marlow had seen, with hundreds lining the streets.