Joseph Higginson

Sergeant Joseph Higginson (11 October 1792 – 18 September 1881) was a Sergeant in the Royal Marines and veteran of the Invasion of Java (1811), part of the greater Napoleonic Wars. He served aboard HMS President during the invasion, when British forces captured the Dutch East Indies from Franco–Dutch control. For his service he later received the Naval General Service Medal in 1848 with the "Java" clasp, and was one of only 665 to do so.

Higginson left the service following an injury he sustained whilst fighting, which included a bullet wound to the ankle and a sabre scar, Higginson returned to his native Tyldesley in Lancashire, where he worked as a cotton weaver in a cotton mill before marrying his cousin, Martha Dickenson, in 1830. Living to the age of 88, he was the last surviving veteran of the Java campaign and was commemorated in local newspapers upon his death.

Early life and Ancestry

Joseph Higginson was born on 11 October 1792 to James and Mary Higginson, in his childhood home on Well Street, Tyldesley, Lancashire. He was baptised on 24 October the same year at St Mary's, Leigh, in the Kingdom of Great Britain. The 1881 census lists him as Joseph Wright Higginson, due to a clerical error rather than a true middle name.
It is known that Higginson had one sister called Martha, who was born on 6 September 1797 in Tyldesley but was only baptised on 11 September 1825, also at St Mary's, Leigh.

James Higginson

Joseph's father, James Higginson was born the eldest of seven children, on 21 June 1766 in Shakerley to Thomas a weaver and Mary Higginson; he was baptised the following day at Chowbent Chapel in Atherton. James worked for most of his life as a weaver in a cotton mill and died on 17 October 1842 of Paralysis, which results from damage to the nervous system, in his home on Well Street, Tyldesley; he was buried in St George's Church, Tyldesley on 21 October 1842.

James's wife Mary was buried on 5 August 1798 at Manchester Cathedral; this is repeated in her daughter's baptism record in which it states that by 1825, the mother was deceased.

Military service

Recruitment and Transportation

At the age of 18 in 1810, Higginson enlisted in Manchester as a private in the Royal Marines, having been persuaded to join by a recruitment agent. He was later promoted to sergeant. On 31 December 1810, under the control of Captain Samuel Warren, he embarked aboard HMS President, heading for the Cape of Good Hope. After a short stop at the Cape, they sailed along the frigates and , to Calcutta. Under the command of Frederick Augustus Wetherall, they departed Calcutta on 21 April 1811 and arrived at Penang on 21 May 1811. They met with an earlier division under the command of Colonel Rollo Gillespie, which left Madras on 18 April, escorted by a squadron under Captain Christopher Cole aboard the 36-gun . From Penang, they sailed to Malacca and arrived on 1 June 1811 where they made contact with a division of troops from Bengal under Lieutenant-General Sir Samuel Auchmuty, escorted by Commodore Broughton aboard the 74-gun .

Invasion of Java

On the 31 August 1811, a royal marine expedition was sent out to the Fort of Cheribon; a group of ships, consisting of HMS President, Nisus, Phoebe and Hesper landed with a total force of 180 men under the command of Captain Welchman to intercept a retreat from the Dutch General Jan Willem Janssens. Cheribon surrendered and became occupied by Captain Welchman and his forces, however an impending attack caused the troops to leave and be replaced by Seamen.

The Anglo–Indian force captured Batavia (now Jakarta) in August 1811 and defeated Franco–Dutch troops at the Battle of Fort Cornelis, securing the island. Muster rolls for HMS President confirm the ship’s presence in the Java operations during this period. The victory removed the last major French foothold in the East Indies and secured British trade routes to India and China.

According to his obituary, Higginson was wounded during the campaign in August 1826 in which he was shot in the ankle and received a 'Light' saber scar. He was consequently returned home without completing the 18 years of required service needed for a pension. He later regretted not rejoining the service after he recovered.

Naval General Service Medal

In 1847, the Admiralty authorised the award of the Naval General Service Medal to surviving veterans of actions between 1793 and 1840. The award was not automatic; veterans had to apply for it more than three decades after the events.

He received his medal in 1848 with the "Java" clasp for his service on HMS President; inscribed on the rim is his name JOSEPH HIGGINSON. He is also listed in the alphabetical roll of recipients compiled by John Hayward and Colin Message, which recorded holders of the medal. Only 665 were issued and approximately 278 known to survive.

His name also appears in later compilations of medal recipients, including the Greenwich Medal Roll published by the Guild of One-Name Studies, which documents surviving holders of the Naval General Service Medal.

Joseph Higginson was not a recipient of the Java Medal (awarded in 1812), as he was not a soldier in an army of the East India Company.

Fellow Soldiers

From the Naval General Service Medal roll in 1847, it can be found that he served along these soldiers on HMS President:

Later life

Marriage

On 19 December 1830, Higginson married his cousin, Martha Dickenson, at St Mary the Virgin's Church, Leigh. Martha was born on 12 June 1786 in Winsford, Cheshire, to Thomas, a soldier and Sarah (née Grimes) Dickenson; she was baptised on 19 July 1786 at St Mary's Church, Stockport.

Census returns listed Martha and Joseph's residence as Well Street, and it is known that they were tenants as the house changed ownership in 1866. Together, they lived with Joseph's father James until his death in 1842, at which Joseph was present for;due to Martha's advanced age, the couple never had any children. In 1841, James Smith, born 1831 lodged with the family and in 1851, Hugh Thingler, born 1811 and a joiner from Shropshire lodged with them. Martha worked in the cotton industry as a Cotton Winder whereas Joseph was a Cotton Weaver, a position that he held until retirement which came only after Martha died on 28 October 1869 following a 14-day illness of bronchitis.

Later life

The Bolton Evening News reported that Higginson regretted not returning to fight after recovering from his wounds and that he was remembered for hoisting the Union Jack in commemoration of his service.

After his wife’s death in 1869, Higginson retired from being a cotton weaver (a position he held ever since leaving the Royal Marines) and went to live with his cousin Joseph Higginson, his wife, Margaret, and their eight children. In 1871, the family resided 8 Higham's Square, a court of eleven terraced houses and one outdoor building that held two toilets and a communal tap, it was later demolished in the 1940s to make way for the houses on Maesbrook drive. It is known that the family kept poultry in the cellar which was deemed unsanitary and as a result shifted location.

The family were last recorded as living at 8 Highams Square on 4 September 1877, when the family registered the death of Joseph and Margaret's infant daughter Elizabeth who died just eight weeks old of Tabes Mesenterica, Convulsions and Jaundice. In 1879, were first recorded as living at Patchett street on 6 July 1879, when Joseph and Margaret, gave birth to Elizabeth Higginson at Patchett Street in Tyldesley. In 1881, the family were again listed as residing at 5 Patchett Street in Tyldesley, where Joseph remained until his death. In 1873, he became almost blind, and in 1877, he was photographed with his relative Martha Higginson (daughter of his cousin Joseph, later Martha Fountain).

Illness and death

By 1881 his health was declining rapidly. Beginning in January, Higginson was confined to bed for a 35-week illness, suffering from mortification of both legs, due to a lack of blood flow to the extremities caused by age based deterioration. On 18 September 1881, aged 88, Higginson died without issue, at his home at 5 Patchett Street, just three weeks from his 89th birthday. His death was registered on 19 September by the daughter of his cousin Joseph, Margaret Higginson, who was present at the time of his death, the cause of death was recorded as senile debility.

He was buried at St George's Church, Tyldesley, on 21 September, alongside his wife. His funeral was officiated by the Reverend E. H. Duerden and the burial was performed by Robert Connelly, the curate in charge of St Anne's Church, Hindsford. Currently, there is no standing gravestone or monument dedicated to Higginson at the church; in addition to that, Higginson has no known will or probate record. His obituary appeared in both The Bolton Evening News and The Leigh Journal, both published on 24 September 1881.

Coincidentally, Higginson died on the 70th anniversary of the Dutch surrender of Java, which was also on the 18th September 1811. By dying in 1881, Higginson narrowly outlived General John Low (died 1880), who was the only other surviving veteran of the Invasion of Java and therefore Higginson became the last surviving veteran of the Invasion of Java.

Legacy

Past Forward

In May 2026, Wigan and Leigh Archives released the 102nd edition of their magazine Past Forward. The magazine contains articles about things, people and places that relate to the Leigh area and are selected via a contest by judges; the runner up in that competition was an article on Joseph Higginson, titled An Unearthed Veteran and is written by a descendant of his, Henry Rowntree. The article summarises Joseph Higginson's life story and was written in February 2026. According to the article, Joseph Higginson was largely forgotten in history apart from the writer's ancestral collection, he was then rediscovered in 2024.

YouTube Mentions

Joseph Higginson was the subject of a Short on YouTube, created by Henry the Numismatist on 25 February 2026. It includes a short biography and is titled "Sergeant Joseph Higginson" .

See also

• Invasion of Java (1811)
• List of last surviving veterans of military insurgencies and wars
• Royal Marines
• Naval General Service Medal (1847)
• List of clasps to the Naval General Service Medal (1847)

External links

• The National Archives, ADM 157: Royal Marines attestation papers
• The National Archives, ADM 171: Naval General Service Medal rolls
• Lancashire Online Parish Clerk Project