Born on 30 November 1872 eighth child and sixth son of John Briggs, hosiery manufacturer, and Mary Wragg his wife, he was educated at St Bartholomew's Hospital, where he served as house surgeon. After being house physician at the South Devon and East Cornwall Hospital, Plymouth he was resident medical officer to the Finsbury Dispensary, London, and won a gold medal in the London MD examination in 1898. He then settled in practice at Nottingham, living at Holmside, Sutton-in-Ashfield, and later at 37 Noel Street, The Forest. He was a member of the Nottingham Medico-Chirurgical Society. Briggs married in 1906 Florence Emily Atyeo. He died at Premier House, Gregory Boulevard, Nottingham on 12 July 1953 aged 80, survived by his two sons and a daughter.