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D.W. Higgins was one of early British Columbia's most significant journalists.
Born in Halifax on November 30, 1834, David William Higgins grew up in Brooklyn where he trained as a printer. In 1952 he went to California where he founded a publication named The Morning Call. He left San Francisco for the goldrush in 1858, but ran a store in Yale instead of becoming a prospector. He joined the British Colonist staff in 1860, working under Amor de Cosmos. He purchased the newspaper and became its editor and publisher from 1862 to 1886, voicing criticisms of its former owner and advocating Confederation. He was elected to the legislature to represent Esquimalt in 1886. From 1890 to 1898 Higgins was Speaker of the Assembly. Defeated in 1900, he edited the Vancouver World (1906-1907). The Mystic Spring is fiction but it provides a good representation of contemporary social life at the time.
Higgins died on November 30, 1917. His house on Fort Street in Victoria is a heritage site.
BOOKS:
The Mystic Spring and Other Tales of Western Life (Toronto, William Briggs, 1904; New York, Broadway Publishing, 1908)
The Passing of a Race and More Tales of Western Life (Toronto, William Briggs, 1905)
[BCBW 2003] "Early B.C." "Journalism" "1850-1900"
Born in Halifax on November 30, 1834, David William Higgins grew up in Brooklyn where he trained as a printer. In 1952 he went to California where he founded a publication named The Morning Call. He left San Francisco for the goldrush in 1858, but ran a store in Yale instead of becoming a prospector. He joined the British Colonist staff in 1860, working under Amor de Cosmos. He purchased the newspaper and became its editor and publisher from 1862 to 1886, voicing criticisms of its former owner and advocating Confederation. He was elected to the legislature to represent Esquimalt in 1886. From 1890 to 1898 Higgins was Speaker of the Assembly. Defeated in 1900, he edited the Vancouver World (1906-1907). The Mystic Spring is fiction but it provides a good representation of contemporary social life at the time.
Higgins died on November 30, 1917. His house on Fort Street in Victoria is a heritage site.
BOOKS:
The Mystic Spring and Other Tales of Western Life (Toronto, William Briggs, 1904; New York, Broadway Publishing, 1908)
The Passing of a Race and More Tales of Western Life (Toronto, William Briggs, 1905)
[BCBW 2003] "Early B.C." "Journalism" "1850-1900"
