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© Rob McGibbon, 2013

27th February: DEATH OF MISS OLIVE HIGGINS


Preserved within the pages of Olive’s diary was this newspaper clipping, which had been carefully cut from the middle of the fourth column on page eight of The Thanet Times. This weekly broadsheet had covered many events in Thomas Higgins’s life since he had arrived in Cliftonville to build and run The Hydro Hotel.

Two heavy circular watermarks graze the newsprint: the indelible stains from tear drops.

The loving preservation of this cutting ensured that one day Olive’s story could be told.

On the same page, in the bottom right hand corner, Olive’s death was announced in the Births, Marriages and Deaths column.

‘HIGGINS: On Feb 25th at the Institute Notre, Dep. [sic] Champs, Paris, Olive Hilda, the beloved and only daughter of Thomas R. Higgins, of the Cliftonville Hydro Hotel, Margate, aged 16 years. Her end was most peaceful.’

28th February. Olive’s Funeral


Saturday morning.

The cortege starts out from The Hydro, taking Olive’s coffin along Eastern Esplanade, then away from Cliftonville and down to the railway station at Margate. Additional privately allocated First Class carriages have been attached to a train of the South Eastern & Chatham railway company to take mourners to London.

The train makes a special stop at Hither Green, where the mourners disembark and the coffin is carried to a hearse. Relatives and friends from the Higgins family’s London roots in New Cross and Deptford join the funeral procession and follow its slow journey to Ladywell and Brockley cemetery. An extra carriage is laden with a vast array of colourful floral tributes. Amongst the flowers by the coffin itself are ones shaped as crosses and wreaths with handwritten messages…

“A token of devotion from heartbroken Dad”

“To my darling Olive, in ever-loving and happy memories, from Peggs (Mums)”

“To my darling sister, from Frank”

“To darling Olive, from Eileen”

[‘Much rushing + hurrying by Dad + Peggs, leave at last amidst luggage + Eileen’s tears…I just noticed a little girl exactly like Eileen, wonder if she ever feels like me. I pity her if she does…’]

 

The cortege makes its way through the ornate iron gates at the Ivy Road entrance of the cemetery where even more people are waiting at the Ladywell chapel. The service begins at 12.30pm.

Later, the mourners follow Olive’s coffin down a path to the Brockley part of the cemetery and to the Higgins family grave in the shadows of low trees. A large, greying marble gravestone – half its length engraved with lead-filled lettering, the lower half clean and empty – rests to one side of the opened earth.

Thomas Higgins has already attended three funerals here since he purchased Plot 1330 20 years earlier. In late March 1894, when he was only 30, he buried his six-week-old son, Victor Thomas, who had died suddenly. In 1899, Thomas’s elderly mother-in-law was laid to rest and, only three years earlier, he had stood by this grave once again after his wife and Olive’s mother Martha had died from breast cancer at just 47. Now, Thomas must watch as his beloved daughter Olive is lowered into the same ground.

“…Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust…”

 

 

The Headstone


The Private Grave of Thomas R. Higgins of Deptford 1894

 In Loving Memory

        of

            VICTOR THOMAS

            The Beloved child of

         Thomas R. and Martha Higgins

                Who died 17th March 1894

                Aged 6 weeks

            Lord Thy Purpose We Cannot See

          But All Is Well That’s Done By Thee

         Also of   AMELIA JONES

               Grandmother of the above

         Who died 10th March 1899 Aged 75

         Love by all. Her end was peace

         Also of   MARTHA EMMA

         The beloved wife of Thos. R. Higgins

         Who died 3rd October 1911, aged 47

            Peace Perfect Peace

         Also of   OLIVE HILDA

         The beloved daughter of the above

          Who died at school in Paris

         February 25th 1914, aged 16 years

         She ever lives in our loving

              and happy memories

      Also of   ELIZABETH MARY HIGGINS

         Who died at Mentone* Feb 21st 1930

         Ever remembered for her goodness

         by her devoted husband and Frank

      Also of  THOMAS RICHARD HIGGINS

         Who died at Bournemouth

         11th January 1946, Aged 81 years

 

Sir Maurice Abbot-Anderson died from pneumonia at home in Bath in 1938, aged 77

Lily Meagher died in 1939, aged 57

Frank Higgins died in hospital from heart failure in 1967, aged 76. He left three sons…

*spelt incorrectly. Menton, South of France.

4th April


The date circled and starred by Olive not long after she started at L’Institut de Notre Dame des Champs. It was the day she longed for throughout her stay in Paris, when Peggs would arrive to take her home for Easter.

 

16th January…letter from Peggs, hurrah!!!! feel quite gay for a minute, dinner, read for an hour then bed, hurrah! another day gone, only 79 more!!!!

24th January…wake up quite early, rotten sore throat + had nightmare, funny, always dream of black cats when I have nightmare, sign of enemies, too, keep your eyes open, Ol, you might be murdered in your sleep!!! 10 weeks to-day my Peggs arrives (D.V)* Oh! the joy, I think I shall go mad…Had a lovely letter from Peggs yesterday, have been reading it all day, its such a cheering one. One from Molly also made me laugh to myself! usual day. bed.

31st January…another week gone! hurrah! only 9 more, thats not so bad, 2 letters from Peggs Oh! the joy, but so sorry she’s not very well, how I wish I were at home + not stuck miles away from helping anyone!! good news of the holiday, can go with Lily! Oh! I ought to be happy with everything so nice! + so I am really! except that I would give anything to have Dad + Peggs…anyhow, Easter wont be long now, its the last day of January, I could shout, I’m so pleased!!…62 more days!!!!!

6th February…Am doing some sort of leather work in the drawing class, it is quite pretty! shall do some more when I get home (Oh!  joyful word!)

7th February…had awful nightmare, but do not mind because it is Saturday which means the end of another week! 8 weeks to-day we go home

 

*The abbreviation for the Latin phrase Deo volente: God willing.

Dedication


To the memory of

Olive Higgins and Albert Ross

With Love

Rob McGibbon

3rd March 2014

An Anagram


OLIVE

I LOVE

LOVE I

RM writes: I have written or typed Olive’s name probably thousands of times since I first began researching her life in 2001. In all that time, I have never worked out an anagram of her name. It never occurred to me. Then, on 19th December 2013, I was urgently writing a pitch to a newspaper for me to write an article about this story. I was deeply unsure whether I should, but I finally decided to go for it and began writing a synopsis. Moments after beginning, I looked at some notes, then back at the screen and Olive’s name had changed to “Love”. I am pretty certain I did not cause that typo. I’m shamefully rubbish at typing, and don’t touch-type. I have to look at the keyboard. Yet, until that time, I had never made that typo of her name. This has always been a story about Love, with a capital, so it seemed a most poignant reminder. Oh, and the newspaper rejected my pitch! [4/3/14]

With the drawing of this Love and the voice of this Calling

Little Gidding, T.S.Eliot