BIGGS, John (1801-1871), of Stonygate, Knighton, Leics.

A popular Radical, Biggs was one of the most important political figures in Leicester between the late 1840s and early 1860s. His father and namesake had founded a hosiery business in Leicester in the late eighteenth century, which had become one of the town’s leading firms by his death in 1827, after which it was continued by John and his younger brothers, William (1805-81) and Joseph (1809-95).1R.H. Evans, ‘The Biggs family of Leicester’, Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society (1972-73), xlviii. 29-58 (at 31); A. Temple Patterson, Radical Leicester: a history of Leicester, 1780-1850 (1954), 181. Much of the firm’s goods were sold to America, which both John and William visited on business, and later Australia.2R.H. Evans, ‘John Biggs of Leicester, 1801-1871’, Clio [University of Leicester History Society], 3 (1971), 31-40 (at 31-2); idem, ‘Biggs family’, 32-3. A Unitarian, like many of the town’s hosiers Biggs took an active part in the struggles for parliamentary reform and against the Tory corporation from the late 1820s onwards, and was elected to the new town council in 1835.3G. Searson, The Leicester municipal, borough, and county poll book (1883), 19-20; Temple Patterson, Radical Leicester, 188, 214. Despite his involvement in the public and political life of the town, for much of the next decade Biggs remained in William’s shadow, preferring a less prominent role which allowed him to focus on developing the family business.4Evans, ‘Biggs family’, 41-2.

In 1840 Biggs patented a method of attaching elastic wrist bands to gloves, which greatly increased the firm’s trade.5Evans, ‘John Biggs of Leicester’, 32; idem, ‘Biggs family’, 33. Despite his business acumen, like other hosiers of the period, Biggs remained pessimistic about the possibility of applying steam power and factory organisation to the sector.6Ibid., 32-3; S. Chapman, Hosiery and knitwear: four centuries of small-scale industry in Britain, c.1589-2000 (2002), 105-6; Temple Patterson, Radical Leicester, 276. Like Richard Harris, another manufacturer who rose from humble origins to represent Leicester in Parliament, Biggs had a reputation as a sympathetic employer, and from the mid-1840s he actively supported stockingers’ demands for the abolition of the customary rent that hosiers charged for use of their frames, a position that put him at odds with his brother William.7Evans, ‘Biggs family’, 33-4. Although attempts to secure legislative redress were frustrated, in the early 1850s Biggs stopped charging the rent, whilst selling off his old ‘narrow’ frames, replacing them with more productive ‘wide’ ones to make good the lost revenue.8Evans, ‘John Biggs of Leicester’, 32-4; idem, ‘Biggs family’, 34-7.

In the mid-1840s Leicester’s Reformers split. As leader of the Radical faction, Biggs favoured a general and extensive scheme of municipal improvement, including, controversially, a new town hall, whilst moderates preferred a more limited and cheaper option.9J. Simmons, Leicester Past and Present (1974), i. 170-2; Temple Patterson, Radical Leicester, ch. 17; VCH Leics., iv. 214-15. His followers also campaigned for further political reforms, including household suffrage and the ballot. Prior to the 1847 general election Biggs used his control of the Reform Society, now dominated by his supporters, to force out the sitting MPs and bring in two outside Radicals, who secured another triumph at the 1852 election.10Daily News, 22 Feb. 1847; Morn. Chro., 9, 24 July 1847; A. Temple Patterson, ‘Electoral corruption in early Victorian Leicester’, History (1946), xxxi. 113-24 (at 120-1); idem, Radical Leicester, 343-8; VCH Leics., iv. 215-16, 219.

On the death of one of the incumbents, Biggs resigned as mayor in order to stand, and was returned unopposed by ‘an immense show of hands’, 18 June 1856.11Daily News, 19 June 1856; Derby Mercury, 25 June 1856; Manchester Times, 21 June 1856; VCH Leics., iv. 220. A general supporter of the Liberal leadership, Biggs initially limited his activity to the division lobby, supporting the equalisation of the borough and county franchises, and was in the minority which opposed Cobden’s Canton motion, which precipitated the 1857 general election.12House of Commons Division Lists, 1857 session 1, 19 Feb. 1857, 3 Mar. 1857. After an acrimonious campaign, he was returned in second place behind a moderate Liberal.13Derby Mercury, 25 Mar. 1857, 1 Apr. 1857; McCalmont’s parliamentary poll book, ed. J. Vincent and M. Stenton (8th edn., 1972), 168.

It has been suggested that Biggs ‘made no particular mark’ at Parliament.14Evans, ‘John Biggs of Leicester’, 39. In the chamber, his contributions were certainly brief and blunt, but often amusing. Complaining of the time allowed for members to get to divisions, he commented that it was ‘highly unbecoming to the dignity’ of parliamentarians for them to ‘run screaming’ to make votes before the doors were closed.15Hansard, 16 June 1857, vol. 145, c. 1937. He gave what Trelawny described as ‘a very comical speech’ against church rates, which drew on his ‘considerable’ experience of the contentious issue in Leicester.16Hansard, 13 May 1858, vol. 150, cc. 568-9; The parliamentary diaries of Sir John Trelawny, ed. T. Jenkins, Camden Society, 4th series (1990), xl. 41. He supported the legalisation of marriage with a deceased wife’s sister, rejecting claims that it would affect the ‘morality of the people’, arguing instead that it would promote ‘liberty’ and ‘happiness’.17Hansard, 23 Mar. 1858, vol. 149, c. 621. An alert legislator, Biggs was quick to spot a defect in one bill which would have left poor law unions under local Acts uncovered by its provisions.18He successfully moved an amendment which extended the poor amendment bill to rectify the position: Hansard, 29 Apr. 1858, vol. 149, cc. 2001-3. He divided for the ballot, shorter parliaments and extension of the franchise.19House of Commons Division Lists, 1857 session 2, 30 June 1857; ibid., 1857-58 session 20 Apr. 1858, 8, 10 June 1858.

The Radicals triumphed at the 1859 general election, when Biggs topped the poll, and his colleague securing second place.20Leicester poll book (1859), 72; VCH Leics., iv. 221. Although he is not known to have made any further speeches in the House, Biggs continued to support electoral reform and the abolition of church rates.21House of Commons Division Lists, 1860 session, 8 Feb. 1860, 20 Mar. 1860; ibid., 1861 session, 27 Feb. 1861, 13 Mar. 1861, 10, 23 Apr. 1861.

The 1859 election result marked the pinnacle of Biggs’s local influence, which was soon undermined by a series of shattering political and personal blows. The death of his colleague occasioned a by-election at which the moderate and Radical candidates were heavily defeated by a Conservative, 7 Feb. 1861.22McCalmont’s parliamentary poll book, 168. The pressures for a Liberal reunion were thereafter irresistible, signalling the end of Biggs’s campaign to secure both seats.23Evans, ‘Biggs family’, 45-6; VCH Leics., iv. 222-3. At the same time, J. Biggs and Sons suffered a catastrophic collapse, and had to be merged into another firm. Although the reasons for the decline remain obscure, it has been suggested that the expenditure of time and money on politics, the cost of new machinery and a significant loss of trade were contributing factors.24R.H. Evans, ‘Biggs, John (1801-1871)’, www.oxforddnb.com. Biggs took the Hempholme Hundreds, 11 Feb. 1862, and shortly afterwards experienced the death of his mother, sister, brother-in-law, and brother in quick succession.25Evans, ‘Biggs family’, 46-7, 57.

Biggs spent the remainder of his life in much-reduced circumstances and maintaining a complete silence on public affairs.26VCH Leics., iv. 223. He died in June 1871, his diminished estate, sworn under £1,000, passing to his brother Joseph.27Evans, ‘Biggs, John’, www.oxforddnb.com. However, Biggs was not forgotten by the inhabitants of Leicester, who demanded a fitting public memorial for their illustrious townsman. In 1873, a marble statue, funded through public subscriptions, including many working men, was erected. The crumbling original version was replaced with a bronze substitute in 1930.28Ibid.; Evans, ‘John Biggs of Leicester’, 31; idem, ‘Biggs family’, 29-30; T. Cavanagh and A. Yarrington, Public sculpture of Leicestershire and Rutland (2000), 177-81. Biggs’s brother William was MP for Newport (Isle of Wight), 1852-7.