Rosina H. Higgins was born in 1920, the third of the four children of Lawrence Henry Higgins (1885-1937) and Lillian Elizabeth Higgins née Wyatt (1886-1944). Her birth was registered in the 3rd quarter of 1920 in the Holborn registration district and her father was a paper warehouseman. Electoral registers from 1921 to 1939 show her parents living at 18 Radnor Street, Islington.
In 1940 she married Richard William Kirby (1916-1944) in the Shoreditch registration district and in 1942 their son, Brian Lawrence Kirby (1942-1944) was born.
She died, aged 24 years, on 3 August 1944 at her home at 28 Coleman Fields, London, N1, together with both her husband, their son and her mother, Lillian Elizabeth Higgins née Wyatt (1886-1944) as a result of German enemy action. She was buried with both her husband and son on 11 August 1944 in Square 129, Grave 264, in Manor Park Cemetery, Serbert Road, London, E7 0NP.
Both she and her three relatives are commemorated in the Civilian War Dead Roll of Honour that is located near the St George's Chapel at the west end of Westminster Abbey.
She is also commemorated in the Islington Book of Remembrance that states that her body was found under debris. Their Incident Folder shows that a V1 flying bomb hit the roadway opposite.26 Coleman Fields causing a crater approximately 10 feet in diameter and 3 feet deep and that nine lives were lost in Nos. 21, 25, 28 and 30 Coleman Fields.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
