John Biggs

John Biggs (11 April 1801 – 4 June 1871) was a British hosier and Liberal and Radical politician.

Early life and business

Biggs was born in Leicester, the oldest of the seven children of John Biggs (1774–1827) and his wife Elizabeth Heggs (1780–1862). In Biggs's hands, the business innovated in hosiery and glovemaking, and invested heavily in equipping a steam-powered factory.

Political career Reformer Biggs engaged in campaigning for political reform early into his life, helping found the Political Union and Reform Society in 1826, and supporting the anti-Corn Laws campaign. By 1846, he and a fellow hosier were named as 'the Cobden and Bright of the Midland Counties', referring to Radical leaders Richard Cobden and John Bright.

Becoming disillusioned with the Reform Society and local MPs Joshua Walmsley and Richard Gardner, Biggs turned "ultra-radical" and sought to return what he believed truly radical MPs for Leicester and a popular franchise. Eventually, this led to Walmsley and Gardner being unseated and replaced by John Ellis and Richard Harris, causing a 15-year battle between local Liberal factions. Unfortunately, it was damaged in a collision with a tram, and replaced by a bronze cast of the original in 1930.

P. L. Quinn suggests that the character of Augustus Debarry in George Eliot's novel Felix Holt, the Radical is based upon John Biggs.