The Lord Briggs | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1921-05-07)7 May 1921[1] Keighley,West Riding of Yorkshire, England |
| Died | 15 March 2016(2016-03-15) (aged 94) Lewes,East Sussex, England |
| Education | Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University of London |
| Occupation | Historian |
| Spouse | Susan Anne Banwell (1955–2016, his death) |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service | Royal Corps of SignalsIntelligence Corps |
| Years of service | 1942–1945 |
| Rank | Warrant Officer |
| Battles / wars | Second World War |
Asa Briggs, Baron Briggs (7 May 1921 – 15 March 2016) was an English historian. He was a leading specialist on theVictorian era, and the foremosthistorian of broadcasting in Britain. Briggs achieved international recognition during his long and prolific career for examining various aspects of modern British history.[2] He became alife peer in 1976.
Asa Briggs was born inKeighley,West Riding of Yorkshire, in 1921 to William Briggs, an engineer, and his wife Jane.[3] He was educated atKeighley Boys' Grammar School andSidney Sussex College, Cambridge, graduating with a BA (first class) in History, in 1941, and a BSc in Economics (first class) from theUniversity of London External Programme, also in 1941.[4][3]
During theSecond World War, from 1942 to 1945, Briggs served in theIntelligence Corps and worked at the British wartime signals intelligence station,Bletchley Park. He was a member of "the Watch" inHut 6, the section decipheringEnigma machine messages from the German Army and Luftwaffe.[5] That posting had arisen because Briggs had played chess at college with Cambridge mathematicianHoward Smith (who was to become thedirector general of MI5 in 1979), and Smith had written to the head of Hut 6,Gordon Welchman, who was also a Cambridge mathematician, recommending Briggs to him.[3]
After the war, he was elected a fellow ofWorcester College, Oxford (1945–55), and was subsequently appointed universityreader in recent social and economic history (1950–55). Whilst a young fellow, Briggs proofreadWinston Churchill'sA History of the English-Speaking Peoples.[3] He was later faculty fellow ofNuffield College (1953–55) and a member of theInstitute for Advanced Study,Princeton, New Jersey, United States (1953–54).
From 1955 until 1961, he was professor ofmodern history atLeeds University, and between 1961 and 1976 he was professor of history atSussex University, whilst also serving as dean of the School of Social Studies (1961–65),pro vice-chancellor (1961–67) and vice-chancellor (1967–76). On 4 June 2008, the University of Sussex Arts A1 and A2 lecture theatres, designed byBasil Spence, were renamed in his honour. In 1976, he returned to Oxford to becomeprovost ofWorcester College, retiring from the post in 1991.
He waschancellor of theOpen University (1978–94) and in May 1979 was awarded an honorary degree as Doctor of the University. He was an honorary fellow ofSidney Sussex College, Cambridge, from 1968;Worcester College, Oxford, from 1969; andSt Catharine's College, Cambridge, from 1977. He held a visiting appointment at the Gannett Center for Media Studies atColumbia University in the late 1980s and again at the renamed Freedom Forum Media Studies Center at Columbia in 1995–96. Announced in the1976 Birthday Honours,[6] he was created alife peer asBaron Briggs, ofLewes in theCounty of East Sussex on 19 July 1976.[7]
Between 1961 and 1995, Briggs wrote a five-volume series on the history of broadcasting in the UK from 1922 to 1974 – essentially the history of theBBC, who commissioned the work.[3] Briggs' other works ranged from an account of the period thatKarl Marx spent in London to thecorporate history of British retailerMarks and Spencer.[3] In 1987, Lord Briggs was invited to be president of theBrontë Society, a literary society established in 1893 inHaworth, nearKeighley, Yorkshire. He presided over the society's centenary celebrations in 1993 and continued as president until he retired from the position in 1996.[8] He was also president of theWilliam Morris Society from 1978 to 1991 and president of the UK'sVictorian Society from 1986 until his death.[9] He served as a governor of theBritish Film Institute between 1970 and 1977.[10]
Briggs headed the Committee on Nursing government investigation in the early 1970s. The committee's subsequent report became known as theBriggs Report.[11]
Briggs married Susan Anne Banwell ofKeevil, Wiltshire in 1955;[12] the couple had two sons and two daughters. He died at home in Lewes at the age of 94 on 15 March 2016.[13]
Briggs contributed volume 2 - volume 1 was written by Conrad Gill (1952) and volume 3 by Anthony Sutcliffe and Roger Smith (1974)
Lord Briggs was also a Governor of the British Film Institute from 1970 to 1977.
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| Preceded by | President of theWorkers' Educational Association 1958 – 1967 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chancellor of theOpen University 1978–1994 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Provost ofWorcester College, Oxford 1976–1991 | Succeeded by |
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