{{Short description|Canadian politician (1891–1963)}} {{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = The Honourable | name = John Higgins | honorific_suffix = | birth_date = 7 May 1891 | birth_place = St. John's, Newfoundland Colony | death_date = 1 July 1963 | death_place = St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada | office1 = Senator for Newfoundland (St. John's East) | term_start1 = 15 January 1959 | term_end1 = 1 July 1963 | predecessor1 = | successor1 = | office2 = Leader of the Opposition | term_start2 = 1949 | term_end2 = 1951 | predecessor2 = ''position established'' | successor2 = Peter John Cashin | office3 = Member of the House of Assembly for St. John's East | term_start3 = 1949 | term_end3 = 1951 | predecessor3 = ''constituency established'' | successor3 = James D. Higgins | party = Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland <br> Progressive Conservative Party of Canada | other_party = Responsible Government League | occupation = Lawyer | alma_mater = Merton College | allegiance = {{flag|Canada|1868}} | branch = Canadian Expeditionary Force | service_years = 1916-1918 | rank = | battles = First World War }}
'''John Gilbert Higgins''' (May 7, 1891 – July 1, 1963) was a Newfoundland politician, Senator, and lawyer.
==Early life== Higgins had an older sister, May. He was a child when his father died. Jack was educated from the age of five at Saint Bonaventure's College and was selected one of Newfoundland's Rhodes Scholars in 1909.<ref name=mem>[http://www.heritage.nf.ca/cns_archives/39riggsjuly9_1998.html Jack Higgins: Newfoundlander Through and Through], Memorial University of Newfoundland</ref> He studied law at Merton College, Oxford, where his roommate was Robert Moses,<ref>{{cite book |last=Caro |first=Robert A. |date=1974 |title=The Power Broker |publisher=Vintage Books |page=50}}</ref> and was captain of the Oxford-Canadian ice hockey team<ref name="MCreg">{{cite book|editor1-last=Levens|editor1-first=R.G.C.|title=Merton College Register 1900-1964|date=1964|publisher=Basil Blackwell|location=Oxford|page=72}}</ref> which toured Europe and was undefeated in its 17 matches, outscoring its opponents 204 goals to 17.<ref name=mem/>
==Career== In 1913, he was called to the bar of Newfoundland and England and began practicing law in St. John's.<ref name=MCreg /> In 1916, he joined the Canadian Corps's St. Francis Xavier Hospital Unit and served for the remainder of World War I in England and France.<ref name=mem/> After the war, Higgins returned to Newfoundland and established a law partnership with Harry Winter in 1919.<ref name=mem/>
===Political ambitions=== During the Newfoundland National Convention, Higgins opposed Joey Smallwood's resolution that Newfoundland join Canadian Confederation. He became a leading member of the Responsible Government League and campaigned against joining Canada in the 1948 Newfoundland referendums.<ref name=mem/> When Newfoundland joined Canada on March 31, 1949, Higgins hung black crepe on his door as a symbol of mourning.<ref name=mem/>
In Newfoundland's first provincial election on May 27, 1949, Higgins was elected to the Newfoundland House of Assembly as a Progressive Conservative from St. John's East. As party leader Harry Mews failed to win his seat, Higgins became the province's first Leader of the Opposition. Preferring his legal practice to politics, Higgins did not run for re-election in 1951.<ref name=mem/>
On January 15, 1959, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker appointed Higgins as Newfoundland's first Progressive Conservative member of the Senate of Canada,<ref name=MCreg /> where he served until his death in 1963.<ref name=mem/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{Canadian Parliament links|ID=4185}}
{{NL PC Leaders}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, John Gilbert}} Category:1891 births Category:1963 deaths Category:Ice hockey people from Newfoundland and Labrador Category:Canadian Rhodes Scholars Category:Progressive Conservative Party of Newfoundland and Labrador MHAs Category:Politicians from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Category:Sportspeople from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Category:Canadian senators from Newfoundland and Labrador Category:Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Category:Canadian Army personnel Category:Canadian military personnel of World War I Category:Newfoundland and Labrador political party leaders Category:Canadian sportsperson-politicians Category:Dominion of Newfoundland people Category:20th-century members of the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly Category:20th-century members of the Senate of Canada