[1] He was the son of John Higford of Dixton Manor, Gloucestershire and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Edmund Fettiplace of Besselsleigh, Berkshire.
[2] The Higfords/Hugfords were descended from an old Shropshire family, who had acquired Dixton through marriage in the mid-fifteenth century.
[3] He matriculated at Hart Hall, Oxford in 1568,[4] but subsequently was tutored by the puritan William Cole of Corpus Christi College, Oxford[5] He entered the Inner Temple in 1571.
[2] In 1591 Dorothy was described as her father's sole heir and the couple were executors of his will,[7] the Dowdeswell manor court being held in their names in 1594.
[8] Higford represented Cricklade in the parliaments of 1572 and 1586[1] through the patronage of the Brydges family, whose seat at Sudeley castle was close to Dixton.