John Higginson

Sir William Barton, head of Barton, Irlam and Higginson died aged 70 in 1826. He had been knighted in 1816 when Mayor of Liverpool on presenting an address of congratulation to the Regent on the marriage of Princess Charlotte of Wales. 'Sir William was a warm supporter of the King and Constitution.'

Fiat in Bankruptcy issued 13/11/1847 against Jonathan Higginson and Richard Deane of Liverpool carrying on business at Liverpool under the firm of Barton, Irlam and Higginson, and at Barbadoes under the firm of Higginson, Deane & Stott. Official assignee = Charles Turner of Tristram-buildings.

Messrs Barton, Irlam and Higginson meet with considerable opposition in the Liverpool District Court of Bankruptcy. It is said that they received a large quantity of sugar from Mr Hinds, of Barbadoes, in June 1847, pledged it in July for £20,000, and in August got a further advance of £30,000, at the same time owing Mr Hinds a large balance.  

'In 1833 ... Barton, Irlam & Higginson owned a number of Barbadian plantations with at least 1,232 slaves, making the firm one of the biggest slave owners on the island.'

Gentleman's Magazine Vol. 139 (1826) p. 189

London Gazette 20793 16/11/1847 p. 4115

The Courier (Hobart, Tasmania) Saturday 18th November 1848 p. 4 [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2967542 accessed 12/10/2010]

Alexey Krichtal, ‘Liverpool and the Raw Cotton Trade: A Study of the Port and its Merchant Community, 1770-1815’, (MA thesis, Victoria University of Wellington, 2013), p. 36; Kathleen M. Butler, The Economics of Emancipation: Jamaica & Barbados, 1823-1843 (Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 1995), p. 57.