She was a founding student of Girton and the first woman to sit the university's natural science tripos.

[3] Higgs was the founder of the Beautiful Oldham Society, and she is creditted with inspiring the creation of Oldham's Garden Suburb, which was to be an area not of terraced houses but of homes with affordable rents set in green and winding streets.

[4] She was one of the two people who inspired the work[5] that resulted in the modern translation of the Twentieth Century New Testament.

[3] She married a Congregational church minister, the Reverend Thomas Kilpin Higgs and his work took them to Staffordshire and then to Manchester.

[4] In 2011, the pupil support centre in Oldham was renamed Kirksland School to honour her contribution to the town.