Record

Code	DS/UK/14
Dates	1890-1958
Person Name	Higginson; Sir; Frank (1890-1958); architect; Secretary to the Imperial War Graves Commission; Director of Works; Chief Admin Officer (Deputy Controller, Central European District)
Surname	Higginson
Forenames	Frank
PreTitle	Sir
Epithet	architect; Secretary to the Imperial War Graves Commission; Director of Works; Chief Admin Officer (Deputy Controller, Central European District)
Source	Who Was Who, 1951-1960, (London: Adam & Charles Black, 1961), p. 318; CWGC Archive, P 315 Pt. 1 & Pt. 2
Biographical Note	Sir Frank Higginson CB CMG ARIBA was an English architect and Secretary to the IWGC, as well as Director of Works and Chief Admin Officer (Deputy Controller), Central European District. Frank Higginson was born on 22 April 1890 in Carlisle. He was educated at Carlisle Grammar School and the Ecole des Beaux Arts in New York, U.S.A. During the First World War, Higginson served as a Lieutenant with the 14th Bn. Canadian Infantry (Quebec Regiment) in Europe. He was twice Mentioned in Despatches and was A.D.C. to Major General G.B. Hughes. In 1917, he married Violet Lindsley Young of Melton-Mowbray. In November 1918, Higginson was seconded to the Imperial War Graves Commission in France as an Architect, designing Cabaret Rouge British War Cemetery and Courcelles-au-Bois Communal Cemetery Extension. He was demobbed with the rank of Captain in July 1919. The following month he was appointed Assistant Inspector of Works, France and then appointed Deputy Director of Works, France, in January 1920. Then in September 1926, he was appointed Assistant Deputy Inspector of Works, France before being appointed Deputy Director of Works, France, in January 1927. In March 1928, Higginson was made an Honorary Lt.-Colonel. Between 1928 and 1938, he served as the Chief Admin Officer (Deputy Controller), Central European District, for the IWGC and was made a CMG in 1937. Then he served as Director of Works (1938-1943) and as Director of Works and Controller (1943-1947), succeeding Lt. Col. Christopher Percy Oswald in the latter post. In March 1945, Higginson was made an Honorary Brigadier. Between 1947 and 1956, Higginson held the post of the Secretary to the IWGC. He was given a knighthood in 1956 and retired from the IWGC on 22 April 1956. He died aged 68 at Melton-Mowbray on the 20 November 1958. His ashes were scattered in Cabaret - Rouge British Cemetery, France, the cemetery he designed as a young man. A bronze plaque in his memory is placed on the wall of the shelter building.
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