John Ivatt Briscoe

Who was John Ivatt Briscoe?

John Ivatt Briscoe was an English Whig and later Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1857 to 1870.

Briscoe was the son of John Briscoe of Cross Deep, Twickenham and his wife Mary Winthrop, daughter of Stephen Winthrop. He was educated at University College, Oxford and graduated BA 2nd class in classics in 1812 and MA in 1815. He entered as a student at Lincoln's Inn, but was not called to the bar. He was a Deputy Lieutenant and J.P. for Surrey and a J.P. for Middlesex. He wrote a pamphlet on "Prison Discipline."

At the 1830 general election Briscoe was elected as a Member of Parliament for Surrey. He held the seat until it was divided under the Reform Act, and was then elected at the 1832 general election as an MP for East Surrey, but was defeated at the 1835 election. He was returned to the Commons at the next general election, in 1837 as the MP for Westbury, where he defeated the sitting Conservative MP Sir Ralph Lopes by 98 votes to 96. He held that seat until the general election in June 1841, when he did not contest the seat. Briscoe did not stand for Parliament again until the 1857 general election, when he was elected as an MP for West Surrey. He held the seat until his death aged 79 in 1870.