Born in London on June 23, 1827, Edward Nicholas Heygate was the son of Baronet William Heygate of Southend, England. He had three brothers: Frederick William, William Unwin, and Robert Henry John. Heygate was captain in a regiment of Royal Engineers stationed in Nassau, Bahamas, from 1853-1855. On his way to the Caribbean in 1853, he visited the United States and Canada. In 1857, he married Mary Jane Hammond, and they lived in Buckland, Herefordshire, England. They had at least one son, Edward Leonard Aspinall. Edward Nicholas Heygate died in 1896.
From the guide to the Edward Nicholas Heygate journal, Heygate, Edward Nicholas journal, 1853-1857, 1853, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)