Maria Higgins was a completely ordinary person with a completely normal life. Except for the fact that she managed to "die twice".
Maria Higgins was a completely ordinary person with a completely normal life. Except for the fact that she managed to "die twice".
Death of Maria Higgins
According to her husband, Charles Higgins, Maria Higgins died aged 54 after a short illness. Following a two-day wake with a closed coffin (that had a plate affixed to it describing her name, age and date of death), Maria was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery (Dublin, Ireland) on July 31, 1858. She had a big funeral with hearse and mourning coaches. Her husband wore crape on his hat, and mourned in an exemplary manner in all aspects.
The revelation
Two years later a woman walked into the office of a solicitor on Nassau Street and declared herself to be Maria Higgins. Her coffin was then exhumed and its contents were found to be nothing more than soil and stones. It turned out Maria had been persuaded by her husband to fake her own death and was living in a basement for all this time. Eventually she got tired of such life and decided to admit the truth.
Burial fraud
The reason for all of this was £500 that Maria had been left in a will. The money would only be released after her death for the benefit of her children, if she had any, or to the beneficiary of her will. This was a small fortune back then and apparently Charles Higgins wasn`t ready to wait for his wife to die for real. Instead, he bribed a local doctor with £10 and a bottle of whiskey to confirm Maria`s death and then arranged a funeral.
After Maria admitted the crime, all involved were charged with fraud. She managed to avoid prison time because she supposedly acted under the influence of her husband, but Charles and his conspirators were found guilty and sentenced to prison.
The second funeral
Maria Higgins died "for the second time" on July 24, 1871, and was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery, close to where her first funeral had taken place. She is the only person who was every buried at Glasnevin Cemetery twice, but most probably not the only case in the world. Do you know any other story like this, maybe from your local cemetery? Contact us and let us know!
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