Briggs Priestley (16 March 1831 – 21 October 1907) was an English cloth manufacturer and

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a l ...

politician from Bradford in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exis ...

Biography

Priestley was born at Thornton in the

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 ...

. He started work as a millhand in the factory of Craven and Harrop at Thornton, but worked his way up and in 1858, he entered into partnership with Francis Craven. In 1860 he partnered his brother Henry in the Shearbridge Mills, and then took over the Atlas Mills in

Laisterdyke Laisterdyke is an area of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, situated to the east of the city on the border with City of Leeds and located in the Bradford Moor ward and in the Bradford East parliamentary constituency. Laisterdyke borders Bar ...

. He also had worsted mills in Thornton.Simeon Rayner ''A History of Pudsey''
/ref> His company was one of the pioneers in manufacturing waterproof fabrics. In 1867 Priestley was elected to the

Bradford Town Council City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council is the local authority of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of five in West Yorkshire and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of Englan ...

and was responsible for the provision of a park in Horton and for the establishment of an art gallery and museum in Bradford. He established a free school for orphan children in New Leeds district in 1868 and two years later another in the Bolton Road. In 1877 he became Mayor of Bradford and raised funding for

Bradford College Bradford College is a further and higher education college in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, with approximately 25,000 students. The college offers a range of full and part-time courses from introductory level through to postgraduate ...

. He became an

alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members them ...

in 1879 and retired from the council in 1880. Priestley was member of the Council of the Bradford Chamber of Commerce, the Bradford Board of Guardians and the Infirmary Board and was a J.P. Priestley was an advanced liberal and became president of the East Bradford Liberal Association. He was elected as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

(MP) for

Pudsey Pudsey is a market town in the City of Leeds Borough in West Yorkshire, England. It is located midway between Bradford city centre and Leeds city centre. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, it has a population of 22,408. History ...

at the 1885 general election and held the seat until he retired from the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

at the 1900 general election. He donated the bandstand at Pudsey.Pictures of Pudsey Pudsey Town Centre
/ref> Priestley lived at Ferncliffe, Appleby Bridge where he died at the age of 76. His son

William William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conq ...

was subsequently MP for

Bradford East Bradford East is a United Kingdom constituencies, constituency represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, UK Parliament since 2015 United Kingdom general election, 2015 b ...

, and his youngest son

Sir Arthur ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

was MP for

Grantham Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln a ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Priestley, Briggs 1831 births 1907 deaths British textile industry businesspeople English justices of the peace Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Mayors of Bradford UK MPs 1885–1886 UK MPs 1886–1892 UK MPs 1892–1895 UK MPs 1895–1900 19th-century English businesspeople