According to usually reliable sources, i.e. Who Was Who, Oxford University Press and Leigh Rayment's peerage page, Britton was born in 1863. However other sources indicate that he was born in 1857.
Career
Britton played an important role in the business and political life of Bristol in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was head of G B Britton & Sons Ltd, boot and shoe manufacturers, founded in 1875 and the company developed into one of Bristol's most successful enterprises.
Britton was a leading Liberal in Bristol. He was sometime Chairman of the Bristol East Liberal Association and was said to be a popular employer in the city. However soon after the establishment of the Coalition Government of David Lloyd George in December 1916 he severed his connection with the Independent Liberal Party to give support to the Coalition and the prime minister. He later suggested the Coalition should be named the Commonwealth Party, perhaps pre-figuring Lloyd George's attempts to bring about a Centre Party or fusion with the Coalition Conservatives. As the 1918 general election approached, the MP for Bristol East Sir Charles Hobhouse announced he would not support the Coalition, claiming he had nothing in common with the Conservatives and no use for Bonar Law. This produced a split in Bristol East Liberal Association and opened the way for Britton to be nominated as the Coalition Liberal candidate. East Bristol was a predominantly working-class seat with a Radical and nonconformist tradition. In the general election, Britton faced Labour opposition from Luke Bateman, an active local member of the National Union of Railwaymen as well as from Hobhouse standing as an Independent Asquithian Liberal. Standing as a Coalition Liberal, and presumably having the advantage of receiving the Coalition Coupon, Britton won the seat with 9,434 votes to Bateman's 8,135, a majority of 1,299. Hobhouse came bottom of the poll with 1,447 votes, losing his deposit. He served only one term in Parliament, and did not stand again at the 1922 general election.
Death
Britton died at his home Lodge Side, Kingswood on 11 July 1929, at the age of 66 years. He was survived by his wife Annie, the daughter of John Henshaw, whom he married in 1902.
