John Biffen was a Member of Parliament for over thirty years; during that time he was Chief secretary to the Treasury, Trade Secretary and leader of the House of Commons. He was made a life peer.
He was born, William John, in comfortable but humble circumstances in Combwich in Somerset, on the River Parrett. He was the son of Victor Biffen and Edith Bennett; his father was a tenant father and his grandfather had been a farer before that, all Somerset born and bred. John went to the local village school in Combwich but then went on to the grammar school in Bridgwater. He was a most gifted boy and went on to Cambridge University to study history, and received a first. Although he came from Somerset, he became a Conservative MP for Oswestry in Shropshire, several hundrd miles away. He died in 2007…
The Tower House in my featured image, is in Combwich.
Lois Elsden 