Like his brother "Harry", Robert joined the Royal Field Artillery and was in France during WW1. Like his brother he was attached to 70th Battery, 34th Brigade. His service number was 9185. Robert was initally a Driver, but later became a Gunner.
Details are sparse but he qualified for his campaign medals on 28 Nov 1914 suggesting that he was involved early in the war. A medical record confirms that he was still in theatre in August 1916.
There was only one marriage of a Robert HIGGINSON in Blackburn between 1910 and 1956, that is to Maria RENSHAW in 1919. That couple had two children: Dorothy and Kenneth. There is no Maria HIGGINSON registered to vote in 1921 (which as a married woman had been possible since 1918) other than the wife of a Matthew HIGGINSON, suggesting that she had died or gone away after the birth of her son Kenneth.
Robert HIGGINSONs in the Electoral Registers in Blackburn:
1923 - Spring - 18 York Street, with sister Alice Ann and brother-in-law Robert Goodwin FIELDING
1921-1928 - 2 Proctor Street, alone except: Spring/Autumn 1925 with Walter HIGGINSON (his brother?), 1928 joined by Marion HIGGINSON
1929 - 17 Union Street, with Rachel MARSDEN and Mary Alice CLARKE
There are no deaths registered for a Robert HIGGINSON in Blackburn. There was a death register for a 70 year old Maria HIGGINSON in 1969 that would fit with Robert's wife Maria.