William Edward Briggs (24 September 1847 – 1903) was an English cotton manufacturer and a Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1874 to 1885. Briggs was the second son of Edward Briggs of The Grange, Wilpshire, Blackburn and his wife Ann Slagg, daughter of Thomas Slagg of Manchester. He was educated at Rugby School and at Worcester College, Oxford. He was a cotton-spinner and manufacturer in the firm of J and W E Briggs, which operated the Rose Hill Mill in Blackburn