Matthew Higham, who has died aged 79, lived a life marked by professional and personal changes. As a teenager he fled London to Scotland to marry his first wife, Kay, after his parents opposed the union upon learning she was pregnant.
Higham trained as a blacksmith and studied at the E15 theatre school in London, where he trained alongside Mike Leigh. He subsequently spent a brief period in Berlin in an undisclosed role for MI6, before working selling underwear at Brixton market in London and as a heavy lorry driver for British Rail.
In 1978, Higham cofounded the company St Giles European Transport in Norwich with his brother Ben, a firm specialising in the transport of antiques. He later worked as an antiquarian in the city.
