<p><b>Troupe(s)</b>: Ethiopian Serenaders (1848-9, 1849)<br>
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<b>Role</b>: Banjo player<br>
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<b>Info</b>: Thomas F. Briggs was one of the best-known and best-travelled of the early banjo virtuosos. He was an early visitor to England, in the early 1840s, and probably toured to Northern Europe as well. He joined the Ethiopian Serenaders for its second incarnation in 1848, and stayed with G. W. Pell and Boz's Juba through at least late 1849, performing acts such as 'Susannah, Don't You Cry', 'Hard Times', and an instrumental duet (banjo &amp; bones) with Pell. Briggs died in California shortly after arriving there for a tour, in the mid-1850s. An instructional book for the banjo with his name on it exists.<br>
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