Sister Frances died from the plague, caught while caring for patients who were infected with the disease. She is buried in the Hong Kong cemetery, where her gravestone's inscription reads:
In loving memory
of
Elizabeth Frances
[Sister Frances]
3rd daughter of William and Frances Higgin
born 21st Sep. 1861
died 29 April 1898
of plague contracted on duty
for nearly eight years a member of
the Government Civil Hospital
in HK
Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God
Erected by the community of Hong Kong
In 1895 she had been awarded one of the few gold versions of the Plague medal that were issued to those involved in fighting the plague in Hong Kong in 1894.
Thanks to Jane Grace, who wrote in to let me know that Sister Frances's medal was recently sold at auction:
In the Art Market pages of the Country Life issue for March 15th 2017 there is a lengthy mention, with illustrated medal and accompanying letter, of a gold plague medal awarded to Sister Frances (Elizabeth Frances Higgin) for her work nursing plague victims in Hong Kong in the 1890s. The article also mentions Sister Gertrude (Miss Emma Gertrude Ireland) and quotes extensively from a report in the Sydney Morning Herald of May 4th 1898. Sister Frances' plague medal was sold at auction last month by Catherine Southon at Farleigh Court Golf Club, Surrey, for £24,780, having descended in the possession of the family of Sister Frances.