Letitia Higgin

Letitia "Lily" Higgin
Born(1837-11-20)November 20, 1837
Lancaster, Lancashire, England
DiedNovember 30, 1913(1913-11-30) (aged 76)
Maidenhead, England
Other namesHope Myddleton (nom de plume)
Occupationwriter
EmployerRoyal School of Needlework

Letitia "Lily" Higgin or Hope Myddleton (20 November 1837 – 30 November 1913) was a British novelist and writer on needlework.

Life

Higgin was born in Lancaster in 1837. She was the last of ten children born to Sarah (née Winfield) and Thomas Houseman Higgin. Her father was the manager of the Belfast and Ballymena Railway and a part owner of Lancaster's White Cross cotton mill until 1846. He was also the deputy governor and keeper of the town's castle[1] and in 1836 he became the mayor of Lancaster for a year.[2] Her elder brother George was an civil engineer in Spain and after her father died in 1861 she went to live with him.[1] In 1868 "La Corte: Letters from Spain, 1863–1866" was published[3] and she is the presumed to be "A. Resident" who wrote the book.[1]

The Handbook of Embroidery

Letitia Higgin's 1880 book on embroidery

In 1871, she was living with her elder sisters Martha and Sarah Anne and they began work at the Royal School of Needlework which had been founded by Victoria, Lady Welby. It employed twenty women above a shop in Sloane Street.[4] It existed to keep the skill of hand embroidery going and to provide employment for impoverished ladies. In 1875, the school became the Royal School of Art Needlework,[1] and Letitia joined them in 1876 as a secretarial assistant.[1]

The school's manager, Louisa Wade, reorganised the school in 1877 and Letitia became her assistant. Higgin worked to create the school's first technical guidebook which was edited by the school's vice-president, Lady Marian Alford, and published in 1880.[1] The Handbook of Embroidery included designs by William Morris, "Miss Jekyll" and Edward Burne-Jones and other designers associated with the school.[5] The book was such a success that two pirated versions appeared in America. There were proposals for a second edition but Higgin and Alford had an unresolved copyright dispute.[1]

Her first of several novels was "Margaret Grantley: A Study in Black and White" by "L. Higgin". This was published in 1885.[6]

Higgin wrote another book about Spain. She returned from Spain and died in Maidenhead in 1913.[1]

Legacy

In 2011, the Royal School of Needlework reprinted her 1880 book.[7] The new version includes an essay by the chief archivist noting the book's history and the impact of this "fascinating volume".[8]

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography published an entry on Higgin in August 2024, alongside another needlewoman Jane Gaugain (1804-1860).[9]

References

Nellies Playmates a book for children in 1877 by Hope Myddleton (aka Letitia Higgin)
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Hulse, Lynn (8 August 2024), "Higgin, Letitia [Lily] (1837–1913), author and embroiderer", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.90000382574, ISBN 978-0-19-861412-8, retrieved 10 August 2024
  2. ^ "Former Mayors of the City of Lancaster". Lancaster City Council. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  3. ^ there, A. Resident (1868). La Corte: Letters from Spain, 1863-1866. Saunders, Otley.
  4. ^ "Our history". Royal School of Needlework. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  5. ^ "The Project Gutenberg eBook of Handbook of Embroidery, by L. Higgin". www.gutenberg.org. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  6. ^ "Author: Lily Higgin". www.victorianresearch.org. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  7. ^ Greensted, Mary (September 2011). "Handbook of Embroidery". The Antiquaries Journal. 91. The Society of Antiquaries of London: 394–395. doi:10.1017/S0003581511000576. S2CID 163312802.
  8. ^ "Royal School of Needlework 1880 Handbook of Embroidery". Royal School of Needlework. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
  9. ^ "What's New: August 2024". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 8 August 2024. Retrieved 17 August 2024.