Thomas Higgins (abt. 1869 - 1954)

Born about 23 Jul 1869 in Victoria, Australia [uncertain]

Husband of Agnes M (Kiddle) Higgins — married 1893 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Descendants

Died 29 Sep 1954 at about age 85 in Geelong, Victoria, Australia

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Peter Jones [send private message]

Biography

Working backwards from Thomas' death record it is possible to piece-together a little of his life, albeit that he seems to have left remarkably little in terms of documentary evidence of his existence.

He is buried at Geelong^[1] in a plot that he shares with his wife, who died more than 17 years before him.

Thomas' death does not appear to have been accompanied by the publication of any death notices or obituaries which might reveal further of his life or circumstances. The record^[2] simply shows that he was around 85 years of age and reveals, somewhat oddly, that his parents are Thomas Keeble and Elizabeth née McPherson. The significance of these names is explored further below.

Thomas and Agnes married in 1893.^[3] Reference to the original document will confirm, but it seems likely that they married in Geelong as that seems to be where Thomas did most of his growing-up as well as being the place of birth of all of their eight children. Again, their marriage does not appear to have been sufficiently socially significant to justify any newspaper notices or the like at the time.

Based on his stated age at death it is possible to estimate that Thomas would have been around 24 when he married Agnes but what little we can tell for sure or guess of his life before then is quite limited.

It seems almost certain that the parents recorded on his death registration were his adoptive parents. Thomas Keeble and Elizabeth McPherson married at Hobart Town, Van Diemen's Land, in 1841.^[4] Some time later they made their way to Victoria and, by 1885, were fostering wards of the state. Even after Thomas died in 1891, it is evident that Elizabeth continued to do so.

It therefore seems that Thomas was at some point a state ward and possibly even formally adopted by the Keeble family. While tracing his life before his adoption or fostering cannot yet be done with any certainty, there is at least one child in Victorian state records which could be him.

A potentially good candidate as being the subject of this profile is the boy who was, on 18 April 1874, found on Bourke Street, Melbourne.^[5][6] His parents were unknown and his state of health is described as, "Good", although his general condition, "Dirty. Cloths bad". Around five weeks later is committed as a ward of the state for seven years due to neglect. Over the following years he is recorded as spending time in institutions in Melbourne, Geelong, and Royal Park (all known sites of welfare institutions) as well as absconding and being boarded-out on a couple of ocassions. The last entry shows that he was boarded-out, most recently having been at Geelong.

Research Notes

Adoptive brother:

• VIC BDM:

Event: deaths

Registration number 15755 / 1920

Family name: KEEBLE

Given name(s) Edmund Thos

Place of event: Millbrook, Australia

Age at death: 78

Mother's name <Unknown Family Name>, Elizth

Mother's family name at birth MCPHERSON

Father's Name: <Unknown Family Name>, Keeble Thos

• Libraries Tasmania, Names Index:

Name: Keeble, Edmund Thomas

Record Type: Births

Gender: Male

Father: Keeble, Thomas

Mother: Keeble, Elizabeth

Date of birth: 18 Aug 1842

Registered: Hobart

Registration year: 1844

Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:1089194

Adoptive parents’ are buried at Geelong:

• Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 04 August 2019), memorial page for Elizabeth McPherson Keeble (1819–5 Oct 1911), Find A Grave Memorial no. 164463974, citing Geelong Eastern Cemetery, Geelong, Greater Geelong City, Victoria, Australia ; Maintained by Ron M (contributor 48458376) Find A Grave: Memorial #164463974
• Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 04 August 2019), memorial page for Thomas Keeble (1814–31 Oct 1891), Find A Grave Memorial no. 164463977, citing Geelong Eastern Cemetery, Geelong, Greater Geelong City, Victoria, Australia ; Maintained by Ron M (contributor 48458376) Find A Grave: Memorial #164463977

There are reports in the press which confirm that the Keeble family in Geelong were involved with fostering children, although none of these relate to Thomas:

• Geelong Advertiser (Vic. : 1859 - 1929) Mon 9 Mar 1885 Page 2
• Geelong Advertiser (Vic. : 1859 - 1929) Fri 28 Apr 1899 Page 2
• Geelong Advertiser (Vic. : 1859 - 1929) Sat 15 Nov 1902 Page 2

Sources

1. ↑ Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 04 August 2019), memorial page for Thomas Higgins (unknown–1 Oct 1954), Find A Grave Memorial no. 164069947, citing Geelong Eastern Cemetery, Geelong, Greater Geelong City, Victoria, Australia ; Maintained by Ron M (contributor 48458376) Find A Grave: Memorial #164069947
2. ↑ VIC BDM:

   Event: deaths

   Registration number 21013 / 1954

   Family name: HIGGINS

   Given name(s) Thomas

   Place of event: GEELONG, Australia

   Mother's name <Unknown Family Name>, Elizabeth

   Mother's family name at birth MCPHERSON

   Father's Name: <Unknown Family Name>, KEEBLE Thomas

3. ↑ VIC BDM:

   Event: marriages

   Registration number 6393 / 1893

   Family name: HIGGINS

   Given name(s) Thos

   Spouse's family name: KIDDLE

   Spouse's given name(s) Agnes

4. ↑ Libraries Tasmania, Names Index:

   Name: Keeble, Thomas

   Record Type: Marriages

   Gender: Male

   Age: 27

   Spouse: Mcpherson, Elizabeth

   Gender: Female

   Age: 20

   Date of marriage: 19 Jul 1841

   Registered: Hobart

   Registration year: 1841

   Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:828070

5. ↑ Public Record Office Victoria, Ward Registers (known as Children's Registers 1864 - 1887)]

   Sub-Item title: Higgins, Thomas [Reg. no. 7701]

   Sub-Item number: page 455 bottom

6. ↑ Public Record Office Victoria, Ward Registers (known as Children's Registers 1864 - 1887)]

   Sub-Item title: Higgins, Thomas [Reg. no. 7701 & 13444]

   Sub-Item number: page 263