John Biggs (1801-1871) was a radical politician, hosiery manufacturer and philanthropist, and a Nonconformist who attended the Great Meeting Hall in Bond Street. He was Mayor of the City in 1840, 1847 and 1855, and represented Leicester as a Liberal MP between 1856-1862. He is buried in Welford Road Cemetery.
The statue of John Biggs stands on a traffic island at Welford Place, Leicester. The statue in Sicilian marble was unveiled on 15 April 1873 by the sculptor, George Anderson Lawson. By 1928, the original statue had decayed and was in a ruinous condition, and a replacement in bronze was erected on 10 December 1930. It is a listed building (grade 2).
