Although not widely known outside Knutsford and possibly Frenchay, more is told about Edward Higgins in local folklore and fiction than is readily available in factual documentation.
He is commonly known as Highwayman Higgins, but I have yet to read compelling evidence that he was a highwayman. He was certainly a convicted thief.
Roughly a century after Higgins’s death Elizabeth Gaskell wrote The Squire’s Story, a short story based on his time in Knutsford, the town that was the basis of Cranford. More recently, just over two centuries after Higgins hanged for his crimes, Raymond Foxall wrote the novel, Squire Errant, a well researched and fuller story with a lot of local historical detail. In this blog I will record what I find about Higgins and the world around him . For me. And for you, if you so wish to read it.
Here Lies Higgins 