Bigland was born on 15 March 1855, son of Edwin Bigland, of Birkenhead.
He was educated at the Quaker school at Sidcot. As a supporter of the First World War, he resigned his membership of Quakers in 1914.[1]
He married Emily Jane Arkle in 1878; they had a son, Douglas, and two daughters. Mrs Bigland died in 1931.[2][3]
He was elected to Parliament as a Conservative and Unionist in the December 1910 general election, for the Birkenhead Constituency and in 1918 for the new constituency of East Birkenhead, sitting until defeated in the 1922 general election by a Liberal. His particular political interest was Tariff reform.
During the World War I, he was responsible for acquiring sufficient quantities of glycerine for the manufacture of cordite propellant. He also persuaded the War Office to drop its minimum height for recruits to enable "Bantam battalions" to be formed.
His portrait, painted by his brother, Percy Bigland is in the Williamson Art Gallery in Birkenhead.[4][5]
