Background
He came from an old Norfolk family, a direct descendant of Doctor William Briggs, and, in a collateral line related to Professor Henry Briggs, was born in London on 4 June 1781.
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John Sir
Sir John Thomas Briggs, was accountant-general of the Royal Navy.
Career
He entered into the civil service of the admiralty in 1796, and at the age of twenty-five was appointed secretary to the "commission for revising and digesting the civil affairs of the navy," under the presidency of Lord Barham, in which capacity he was the virtual author of the voluminous reports issued by the commission, 1806-1809. When the work of this commission was ended, Briggs was appointed assistant-secretary of the victualling board, a post which he held till, in 1830, he was selected by Sir James Graham, then first lord of the admiralty, as his private secretary. But was shortly afterwards advanced to be commissioner and accountant-general of the victualling board.
That board was abolished in 1832, and Briggs was appointed accountant-general of the navy.
On 26 February 1851 Briggs received the honour of knighthood in acknowledgement of his long and efficient departmental service, from which he retired in February 1854. In Briggs"s entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, naval historian Andrew Lambert remarked that Briggs "made a major, sustained contribution to the modernization of naval administration between 1809 and 1854" and noted that "he published several pamphlets on naval administration.
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He died at his home, 4 Royal Crescent, Brighton on 3 February 1865.
