From 1713 to 1715 he was the Jacobite Secretary of State in Paris, appointed by James Stuart to replace the long-serving Earl of Middleton.
[1] He was the second son of Thomas Higgons, a politician and diplomat, and through his mother Bridget, the grandson of the royalist commander Sir Bevil Grenville.
From 1701 onwards he was Gentleman Usher of the Privy chamber to James III who had succeeded his father in Jacobite eyes.
[3] When the Earl of Middleton stepped down as Secretary after twenty years, there was a desire to appoint a Protestant to demonstrate the tolerance of the Catholic James.
Higgons has been described as a figurehead, with actual power was exercised by the King's half-brother Duke of Berwick.