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{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2018}}
{{Infobox Governor
| name = Nathaniel Higginson
| image =
| order =
| office = President of Fort St George (Madras)
| term_start = 3 October 1692
| term_end = 7 July 1698
| lieutenant =
| predecessor = [[Elihu Yale]]
| successor = [[Thomas Pitt]]
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1652|10|11|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Guilford, Connecticut|Guilford]], [[Connecticut Colony]]<ref name="birth_Connecticut">[https://web.archive.org/web/20080416171347/http://www.hinduonnet.com/2001/08/27/stories/13271285.htm Madras miscellany, The Connecticut connection, 27 August 2001]</ref><ref name="bio">H.F.G.WATERS(1847), ''The New England Historical and Genealogical Register'', Pg. 34</ref>
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1708|10|31|1652|10|11|df=y}}
| death_place = [[London]], [[Kingdom of Great Britain]]
| party =
| spouse = Elizabeth Richards
| profession =
| signature = Higginson_sign.JPG
}}
'''Nathaniel Higginson''' (11 October 1652 – 31 October 1708)<ref>[http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tmetrvlr/rnotes.html Research Notes on ''Ancestry.com'']</ref> was an [[Kingdom of England|English]] [[politician]] and a scion of the Higginson family of [[Salem, Massachusetts]] who served as the first [[Mayor]] of [[Chennai|Madras]], and later as the [[Madras Presidency|President]] of the colony from 3 October 1692 to 7 July 1698.<ref name="Mayor">[http://www.chennaicorporation.com/aboutcoc/history.htm About the "Inauguration of the Corporation", From the ''Corporation of Chennai'' website]</ref><ref name="Tenure">[http://www.worldstatesmen.org/India_BrProvinces.htm#Madras List of Governors of Madras, from ''worldstatesmen.org'']</ref>

==Early life==
Nathaniel Higginson was born at [[Guilford, Connecticut|Guilford]], [[Connecticut Colony]] in a family of [[Colonial America|American]] [[American pioneer|pioneers]].<ref name="birth_Connecticut" /><ref name="bio" /> His grandfather [[Francis Higginson]] was the first Minister of the First Church of Salem, Massachusetts from 1629 to 1630 while his father Rev. John Higginson served as Minister of the First Church from 1660 to 1708.<ref name="First Church">[http://www.firstchurchinsalem.org/history.htm History of the First Church in Salem, Massachusetts]</ref><ref name="John Higginson">[http://firstchurchguilford.org/history/rev_john_higginson.htm Biography of Rev. John Higginson from ''firstchurchguilford.org'']</ref> Rev. John Higginson was a leading investigator in the [[Salem witch trials]] of 1692–1693 which witnessed the prosecution of his own daughter and Nathaniel's sister Ann Doliver on charges of practising witchcraft.<ref name="Ann Doliver1">[http://www.gravematter.com/higginson2.htm "A Very Grave Matter"]</ref><ref name="Ann Doliver2">[http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu:8090/saxon/servlet/SaxonServlet?source=salem/texts/bios.xml&style=salem/xsl/dynaxml.xsl&chunk.id=b7&clear-stylesheet-cache=yes Biography of Ann Doliver from website on Salem Witch Trials]</ref><ref name="Ann Doliver3">{{Cite web |url=http://etext.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/texts/salemaccused.html |title=List of People accused of Witchcraft in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 |access-date=7 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120903233906/http://etext.virginia.edu/salem/witchcraft/texts/salemaccused.html |archive-date=3 September 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Nathaniel Higginson graduated in M.A. from [[Harvard College]] in 1670.<ref name="bio" /><ref>[http://colonialancestors.com/harvard/harvard2.htm List of graduates from ''Harvard University'']</ref><ref>''Biographical Sketches of Graduates of Harvard University, in Cambridge'' by John Langdon Sibley, Clifford Kenyon Shipton, Conrad Edick Wright, Edward William Hanson, 1881, {{ISBN|0-384-55240-4}}</ref> In 1674, he moved to [[England]] where he worked for seven years in service of Lord Wharton as [[Steward (office)|steward]] and [[tutor]] to his children.<ref name="bio" /> In 1681, he was employed at the Mint in the Tower where he served till 1683, when he joined the service of the [[British East India Company]] and travelled to [[Chennai|Madras]].<ref name="bio" /> Soon, he was appointed to the Council of [[Fort St George]]. In 1687, when the Corporation of Madras was created, Nathaniel Higginson – who was the Second member of the Council – became the first Mayor.

Nathaniel Higginson married Elizabeth Richards in 1692.<ref name="bio" />

==First Mayor of Madras==
The plan for setting up a corporation in Madras was first detailed by Josiah Child, the President of the Board of Directors of the British East India Company, in a letter addressed to the factors at Madras on 28 September 1687.<ref name="Mayor" /> Three months later, Josiah Child and his deputy had an audience with [[James II of England|James II]], and as per the ensuing discussions, a Charter was issued by the king on 30 December 1687 which established the Corporation of Madras.<ref name="Mayor" /> The charter came into effect on 29 September 1688, and Nathaniel Higginson – who was then the second member of the Council of Fort St George – took office as the Mayor of Madras.<ref name="Mayor" />

Nathaniel Higginson resigned as Mayor of Madras after a short term of six months, and was succeeded by Littleton.<ref name="Mayor" />

==Tenure as President of Madras==
On 3 October 1692, Nathaniel Higginson succeeded [[Elihu Yale]] as the President of Madras. Meanwhile, during the same year, the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal army]] besieged the [[Marathas]] in the fortress of [[Gingee]] but was defeated in December.<ref>K.R.SUBRAMANIAN (1928), ''The Maratha Rajas of Tanjore'',Pg. 27</ref> The Mughal general [[Zulfiqar Khan Nusrat Jung]] failed to take the fort and retired with some troops to [[Vandavasi]] while other troops sought protection in Madras. He approached the British for negotiating a deal with the Marathas. The British at Madras, however, refused to get involved. In August 1693, the [[Dutch East India Company|Dutch]] invaded the [[French East India Company|French]] settlement of [[Pondicherry]] and conquered it. The administration in Madras responded by sending a congratulatory message to the Dutch in Pulicat over the successful siege of Pondicherry.

It was during Higginson's tenure that the [[British East India Company]] obtained a ''firman'' from Nawab Zulfiqar Khan for the settlements of [[Egmore]], [[Purasawalkam]] and [[Triplicane]].

In July 1694, there broke a dispute between two chief Muslim clerics of [[George Town, Chennai|Blacktown]] over the division of revenues which Higginson helped settle in an amicable way.

In February 1696, Elihu Yale petitioned the Court of Directors once again over the unjust way in which he had been tried by the Council of Fort St George. Higginson responded by replying to the Board of Directors refuting Yale's allegations of injustice.

In November 1694, Nawab Zulfiqar Khan proceeded from [[Wandiwash]] where he was encamped and took Chungramon Fort. However, dissent broke out in the ranks of the Mughal army and there were rumors of royal orders being dispatched to [[Daud Khan Panni]] to capture Nawab Zulfiqar Khan. In March 1696, Nawab Zulfiqar Khan sent messengers to Madras demanding one-lakh pagodas.

Zulfiqar Khan was increasingly frustrated when the British of Madras refused to present him the demanded amount. He attempted to destroy the trade of the colony by seizing its goods and imposing stringent customs. He even gave orders to the Havaldar of [[Thiruvallur]] to mobilize his troops in case of war. The Council of [[Fort St George]] met on 31 October 1696 and conveyed their outright rejection of the Nawab's demands even if it meant going to war. However, Madras was saved when fresh orders were received by Zulfiqar Khan in late 1696 from the Mughal Emperor [[Aurangzeb]] to proceed to [[Gingee]]. Thus, a major face-off was averted. Zulfiqar Khan, meanwhile, concentrated his energies against the Marathas and won a decisive victory at Gingee returning to Wandiwash only for his marriage in 1698. Nathaniel Higginson sent him rich marriage presents and a congratulatory message on his victory over the Marathas.

Throughout his tenure, despite being a [[Protestant]], Higginson was fairly tolerant towards his [[Hinduism|Hindu]] subjects as well as the [[Roman Catholicism in India|Roman Catholics]] of St Thome. He repealed the extortionary taxation system which his predecessor Elihu Yale had introduced in the revenue system of the Hindu shrines of Blacktown and Triplicane. He also maintained regular correspondence with the Roman Catholic [[Dioceses of Saint Thomas of Mylapore|bishop of St Thome]].

It was during Higginson's Presidency (in 1693) that the Madras Secretariat was constructed to host the offices of the Council of Fort St George.<ref name="Muthiah1">S.MUTHIAH(2004): ''Madras Rediscovered'', East West Books (Madras) Pvt Ltd, Pg. 40</ref> It was also during this time that a channel was cut in order to interlink the North River with the [[Kuvam|Coovum]]. It was this interlinking of the two rivers which created "the Island".<ref name="Muthiah2">S.MUTHIAH(2004), Pg.141</ref>

Higginson's Presidency came to an end on 7 July 1698, and he was succeeded by [[Thomas Pitt]].

==Later life==
Nathaniel Higginson returned to England with his wife and four children in the year 1700 and established himself as a merchant in London.<ref name="bio" /> In 1706, he affixed his signature to a petition against [[Joseph Dudley]], the Colonial Governor of [[Province of Massachusetts Bay|Massachusetts]].<ref name="bio" /> But Dudley discarded Higginson's petition with contempt as a complaint from someone who "may be presumed to nothing of the country".<ref name="bio" /> The allegations were similarly discarded by the [[Massachusetts Governor's Council|Council]] as a "wicked and scandalous accusation".<ref name="bio" /> Alienated from his home country, Higginson spent the rest of his life in England and died of [[smallpox]] on 31 October 1708.<ref name="bio" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* WHEELER, J. T. (1861). Madras in the olden time: being a history of the presidency from the first foundation. Madras, Printed for J. Higginbotham by Graves and co., Ch VIII and IX.
* [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=HigLett.xml&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=1&division=div1 Letter from Rev. John Higginson to his son, Nathaniel Higginson dated 31 August 1698]

{{s-start}}
{{succession box | before= [[Elihu Yale]] | title=[[Madras Presidency|President of Madras]] | after= [[Thomas Pitt]] | years=3 October 1692 – 7 July 1698}}
{{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Higginson, Nathaniel}}
[[Category:1652 births]]
[[Category:1708 deaths]]
[[Category:Presidents of Madras]]
[[Category:Administrators in British India]]
[[Category:People of colonial Massachusetts]]
[[Category:Deaths from smallpox]]
[[Category:Infectious disease deaths in England]]
[[Category:Harvard University alumni]]
[[Category:People of the Salem witch trials]]
[[Category:Mayors of Chennai]]
[[Category:People from Guilford, Connecticut]]

Nathaniel Higginson - Revision history

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