Asa Briggs, Baron Briggs (7 May 1921 – 15 March 2016) was an English historian. He was a leading specialist on the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwa ...

, and the foremost historian of broadcasting in Britain. Briggs achieved international recognition during his long and prolific career for examining various aspects of modern British history. He became a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

in 1976.

Early life

Asa Briggs was born in

Keighley Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parish in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford. Keighley is north-west of Bradford city centre, north-west o ...

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

in 1921 to William Briggs, an engineer, and his wife Jane. He was educated at Keighley Boys' Grammar School and

Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Sidney Sussex College (referred to informally as "Sidney") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1596 under the terms of the will of Frances Sidney, Countess of Sussex (1531–1589), wif ...

, graduating with a BA (first class) in History, in 1941, and a BSc in Economics (first class) from the

University of London External Programme The University of London Worldwide (previously called the University of London International Academy) is the central academic body that manages external study programmes within the collegiate university, federal University of London. All courses ...

, also in 1941.

Military service

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, from 1942 to 1945, Briggs served in the Intelligence Corps and worked at the British wartime codebreaking station,

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years following ...

. He was a member of "the Watch" in Hut 6, the section deciphering Enigma machine messages from the German Army and Luftwaffe. That posting had arisen because Briggs had played chess at college with Cambridge mathematician Howard Smith (who was to become the

Director General of MI5 __NOTOC__ The Director General of the Security Service is the head of the Security Service (commonly known as MI5), the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency. The Director General is assisted by a Deputy Director Gene ...

in 1979), and Smith had written to the head of Hut 6,

Gordon Welchman William Gordon Welchman (15 June 1906 – 8 October 1985) was a British mathematician. During World War II, he worked at Britain's secret codebreaking centre, "Station X" at Bletchley Park, where he was one of the most important contributors. ...

, who was also a Cambridge mathematician, recommending Briggs to him.

Academic career

After the war, he was elected a fellow of

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms ...

(1945–55), and was subsequently appointed

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...

in recent social and economic history (1950–55). Whilst a young fellow, Briggs proofread

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

's ''

A History of the English-Speaking Peoples ''A History of the English-Speaking Peoples'' is a four-volume history of Britain and its former colonies and possessions throughout the world, written by Winston Churchill, covering the period from Caesar's invasions of Britain (55 BC) to the en ...

''. He was later faculty fellow of

Nuffield College Nuffield College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is a graduate college and specialises in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. Nuffield is one of Oxford's newer c ...

(1953–55) and a member of the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent schola ...

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of w ...

, United States (1953–54). From 1955 until 1961, he was professor of

modern history The term modern period or modern era (sometimes also called modern history or modern times) is the period of history that succeeds the Middle Ages (which ended approximately 1500 AD). This terminology is a historical periodization that is appli ...

Leeds University , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , t ...

and between 1961 and 1976 he was professor of history in

Sussex University , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

, 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 by

Basil Spence Sir Basil Urwin Spence, (13 August 1907 – 19 November 1976) was a Scottish architect, most notably associated with Coventry Cathedral in England and the Beehive in New Zealand, but also responsible for numerous other buildings in the Moderni ...

, were renamed in his honour. In 1976, he returned to Oxford to become provost of

Worcester College Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms w ...

, retiring from the post in 1991. He was

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's underg ...

(1978–94) and in May 1979 was awarded an honorary degree as Doctor of the University. He was an honorary fellow of

, from 1968,

, from 1969 and

St Catharine's College, Cambridge St Catharine's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The college is located in the historic city-centre of Cam ...

, from 1977. He held a visiting appointment at the Gannett Center for Media Studies at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in the late 1980s and again at the renamed Freedom Forum Media Studies Center at Columbia in 1995–96. Announced in the

1976 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1976 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were published on 4 June 1976 for ...

, he was created a

as Baron Briggs, of

Lewes Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of t ...

in the County of East Sussex on 19 July 1976. 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 the BBC, who commissioned the work. Briggs' other works ranged from an account of the period that

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

spent in London to the

corporate history A corporate history is a historical account of a business or other co-operative organization. Usually it is produced in written format but it can also be published as audio or audiovisually. Thousands of companies across the industrialized world ha ...

of British retailer

Marks and Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...

. In 1987, Lord Briggs was invited to be President of the Brontë Society, a literary society established in 1893 in

Haworth Haworth () is a village in the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, in the Pennines, south-west of Keighley, west of Bradford and east of Colne in Lancashire. The surrounding areas include Oakworth and Oxenhope. Nearby villages inc ...

, near Keighley, Yorkshire. He presided over the Society's centenary celebrations in 1993 and continued as President until he retired from the position in 1996. He was also President of the

William Morris Society The William Morris Society was founded in 1955 in London, England. The Society's office and museum are located at Kelmscott House, Hammersmith, where Morris lived from 1879 until his death in 1896. The Society aims to make more well-known th ...

from 1978 to 1991 and President of the UK's

Victorian Society The Victorian Society is a UK amenity society and membership organisation that campaigns to preserve and promote interest in Victorian and Edwardian architecture and heritage built between 1837 and 1914 in England and Wales. It is a registered ...

from 1986 until his death. He died at home in Lewes at the age of 94 on 15 March 2016.

Personal life

He married Susan Anne Banwell of Keevil, Wiltshire in 1955; the couple had two sons and two daughters.

Select bibliography

*''The History of Broadcasting in the United Kingdom'', 5 volumes (Oxford University Press) ::# ''The Birth of Broadcasting'' – 1961 ::# ''The Golden Age of Wireless (1927–1939)'' – 1965 ::# ''The War of Words (1939–1945)'' – 1970 ::# ''Sound and Vision (1945–1955)'' – 1979 ::# ''Competition (1955–1974)'' – 1995 * ''The Age of Improvement, 1783–1867'' (Harlow: Pearson, 1959, 2nd edn 2000) * ''The Channel Islands, Occupation and Liberation 1940–1945'', Batsford Books, London, * ''A Social History of England'' * ''

Victorian People ''Victorian People: A Reassessment of Persons and Themes, 1851-1867'' is a book by the historian Asa Briggs originally published in 1955. It is part of a trilogy that also incorporates '' Victorian Cities'' and '' Victorian Things''. Content Brigg ...

'' * ''Victorian Cities'' * ''Toynbee Hall: The First Hundred Years'' (London: Routledge, 1984, ) * ''Victorian Things'' * ''Marks & Spencer Ltd: A Centenary History'', Marks & Spencer 1884–1984 * ''The Franchise Affair'', 1986 (with Joanna Spicer) * ''Marx in London: An Illustrated Guide'' * ''A Social History of the Media'', 2002 (together with Peter Burke) * ''Secret Days: Codebreaking in Bletchley Park: A Memoir of Hut Six and the Enigma Machine'' (Frontline Books, , May 2011) * ''Special Relationships: People and Places'', 2012 * ''History of Birmingham'', three volumes

References

External links

Some of Asa Briggs' papers
mostly relating to a biography of Michael Young, held at

Churchill Archives Centre The Churchill Archives Centre (CAC) at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge is one of the largest repositories in the United Kingdom for the preservation and study of modern personal papers. It is best known for housing the papers of ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Briggs, Asa Briggs, Baron 1921 births 2016 deaths Academics of the University of Leeds Alumni of University of London Worldwide Alumni of the University of London Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge British historians Chancellors of the Open University Crossbench life peers Fellows of Nuffield College, Oxford Fellows of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Fellows of St Catharine's College, Cambridge Fellows of Worcester College, Oxford Media historians Bletchley Park people People from Keighley Provosts of Worcester College, Oxford Fellows of the British Academy British Army personnel of World War II Royal Corps of Signals soldiers Intelligence Corps soldiers Life peers created by Elizabeth II