Haut-Brion chronicler dies

Lord Asa Briggs, who wrote the first history of Château Haut-Brion and a history of the Victoria Wine Company, has died aged 94.

Published in 1994, ‘Haut-Brion: An Illustrious Lineage’ was the first book (at least in English) to chronicle the history of the first growth from its origins to the arrival of Jean-Bernard Delmas, the estate’s technical director to this day.

Lord Briggs was one of Britian’s most prolific post-war historians publishing over 40 books on subjects as diverse as the BBC (its history from 1922-1974 in five volumes); the Victorians (‘Victorian Cities’ is considered his seminal work), and British politics.

Alongside his history of Haut-Brion (part of Faber’s series on famous estates) his other notable work on wine was a history of Britain’s first chain of wine and sprits specialists, the Victoria Wine Company. Published in 1985, his work followed the business from its founding in the 1860s to 1984.

Born in the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1921, Briggs left his studies at Cambridge in 1943 to serve as a code-breaker at Bletchley Park, where he was part of the team that helped deceive the Germans as to the exact landing sites of Operation Overlord (D-Day).

After the war he pursued a career as an academic and was elected a fellow of Worcester College, Oxford in 1945. He spent time at Princeton, Leeds University and was the second vice chancellor of the University of Sussex.

In 1978 he was made chancellor of the newly established Open University and contributed greatly to its development.

Made a life peer in 1976 he sat as a crossbencher

Briggs died at home in Lewes on 15 March, and is survived by his wife, four children and 14 grandchildren.