Gilbert Arthur Briggs (1890 – 9 January 1978), commonly referred to as "G. A. Briggs", founded Wharfedale Wireless Works in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, England, in 1932, and was a leading figure in the early development of high fidelity

loudspeaker A loudspeaker (commonly referred to as a speaker or speaker driver) is an electroacoustic transducer that converts an electrical audio signal into a corresponding sound. A ''speaker system'', also often simply referred to as a "speaker" or " ...

s introducing such basics as the two-way loudspeaker and the

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

magnet, as well as writing some famous books on audio and loudspeakers. Britain was at the forefront of developments in

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

audio Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to: Sound *Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound *Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum *Digital audio, representation of sound ...

and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

, and Wharfedale is still known as a leading manufacturer of high quality loudspeakers, although the company was sold in 1958 to The Rank Group and in the early 1990s to Verity Group PLC. Briggs was a proud Yorkshireman whose passion for audio came out of a love of music, and who built a business out of a hobby, working long hours and always promoting what he truly believed in. In the 1950s, Briggs embarked on an ambitious collaboration with a close friend and colleague, Peter Walker, founder of Quad Electroacoustics. With Quad supplying the

amplifier An amplifier, electronic amplifier or (informally) amp is an electronic device that can increase the magnitude of a signal (a time-varying voltage or current). It may increase the power significantly, or its main effect may be to boost the v ...

s and Wharfedale building the loudspeaker systems, they embarked on what was to become an industry-defining series of concerts when audiences were invited to experience live versus recorded music first hand. They toured the UK and the US, playing at venues including the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...

in London and

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Biography

Gilbert was the son of Phineas Briggs, a mill worker who was descended from a line of Yorkshire weavers and

textile mill Textile Manufacturing or Textile Engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful goods ...

workers. Phineas died of

pleuro-pneumonia Pleuropneumonia is inflammation of the lungs and pleura, pleurisy being the inflammation of the pleura alone. See also * Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia – a disease in cattle * Contagious caprine pleuropneumonia Contagious caprine pleurop ...

, aged 36, leaving Gilbert, aged nine, and three young siblings, to be brought up by their mother, Mary Anne Emsley, who abandoned their back-to-back house to move the family in with her mother. Despite these desperate circumstances, Gilbert later wrote that they were happy, and he was very soon to move to

Kings Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...

to attend technical school. Later, he attended Crossley and Porter Orphan School in Halifax, where he acquired a love of

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

. He was then to spend 27 years in the textile industry, often travelling as a

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

. In 1914, he was rejected for army service following a medical screening in which he was considered to have a heart condition, though this was never to affect him in any way. This diagnosis saved him from fighting in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and he continued in textiles at Holdworth Lund and Co. In 1924, Briggs married Doris Edna Mart (Edna) who was eleven years younger than he. As the textile industry went into decline during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, his interest increasingly turned to loudspeakers and audio reproduction and, following his decision around 1932 to establish a loudspeaker manufacturing firm, Edna became his helper in cone assembly and coil winding.

Wharfedale Speakers

Briggs built his first loudspeaker in the cellar of his home in Ilkley in the valley of the

River Wharfe The River Wharfe ( ) is a river in Yorkshire, England originating within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. For much of its middle course it is the county boundary between West Yorkshire and North Yorkshire. Its valley is known as Wharfedale. ...

known as

Wharfedale Wharfedale ( ) is the valley of the upper parts of the River Wharfe and one of the Yorkshire Dales. It is situated within the districts of Craven and Harrogate in North Yorkshire, and the cities of Leeds and Bradford in West Yorkshire. It is ...

Live concert hall demonstrations

Briggs staged a number of live events in major concert halls, hotels and other public buildings where he demonstrated recordings played over Wharfedale loudspeakers alongside live music, sometimes recording and playing back on the spot and taking advantage of developments in magnetic tape recording. His decision to book the Royal Festival Hall, recently built for the

Festival of Britain The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says the Festival was a "triumphant success" during which people: ...

, in 1954 was considered brave, but the event was sold out in four days. Despite the fact that only low power amplifiers were available (60 watts or so where today's engineers would provide 5,000 watts or more) the event was a success.

Publications

In 1948, Briggs wrote his first book, ''Loudspeakers: The Why and How of Good Reproduction'', which sold out in five months and was reprinted many times. He later wrote an enlarged version called ''Sound Reproduction''. In 1960, he published ''A to Z in Audio'', a ''pot-pourri'' of anecdotes and reflections on different aspects of audio engineering, related with quiet humour, under headings arranged alphabetically. In 2012, David Briggs (died 9 January 2018), whose grandfather was Gilbert Briggs' first cousin, wrote a book called ''A Pair of Wharfedales — The story of Gilbert Briggs and his Loudspeakers''.

References

External links

Official Wharfedale website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Briggs, Gilbert English inventors Technical writers British audio engineers 1890 births 1978 deaths