British Labour Party politician (1941?2003)
Gareth Wyn Williams, Baron Williams of Mostyn
,
PC
,
QC
(5 February 1941 ? 20 September 2003), was a Welsh
barrister
and
Labour politician
who was
Leader of the House of Lords
,
Lord President of the Council
and a member of the
Cabinet
from 2001 until his sudden death in 2003.
Early life
[
edit
]
Williams was born near
Prestatyn
, in
North Wales
, a son of Albert Thomas Williams and his wife Selina,
nee
Evans.
[1]
He was educated at
Rhyl Grammar School
and at
Queens' College, Cambridge
.
[1]
Legal career
[
edit
]
He was
called to the bar
at
Gray's Inn
in 1965,
[1]
he became
Queen's Counsel
in 1978,
[1]
was a Recorder from 1978,
[2]
a Deputy High Court Judge, 1986?92, the Leader of the
Wales and Chester Circuit
, 1987?89,
[1]
and a Member of the
Bar Council
, 1986-92
[1]
(Chairman, 1992).
[1]
Political career
[
edit
]
He was created a
life peer
on 20 July 1992 as
Baron Williams of Mostyn
,
of
Great Tew
in the
County of Oxfordshire
,
[3]
and became an opposition spokesman in the
House of Lords
on Legal Affairs, and later
Northern Ireland
. After Labour's election victory he was appointed a
Home Office
minister, and in 1999 became
Attorney General for England and Wales
and
Northern Ireland
. He was appointed
Leader of the House of Lords
in 2001, initially with the
sinecure
office of
Lord Privy Seal
, for which
Lord President of the Council
was substituted in 2003.
Reputation among his colleagues
[
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]
As part of the celebrations to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the
Life Peerages Act
, Lord Williams was voted by the current members of the House of Lords as the outstanding life peer since the creation of the life peerage.
[4]
In his book
A View from the Foothills
Chris Mullin
wrote that he thought that Gareth Williams was most likely to succeed
Derry Irvine
as Lord Chancellor; in the event the position was next filled by
Charles Falconer
.
[5]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Williams married Pauline Clarke in 1962, and they had three children. They divorced, and he then married Veena M. Russell in 1994, and by her had one daughter, Imogen.
[1]
He died from a heart attack at his home in
Evenlode
, Gloucestershire on 20 September 2003, aged 62, and was buried at St Michael and all Angels Church in
Great Tew
, Oxfordshire.
[6]
Arms
[
edit
]
Coat of arms of Gareth Williams, Baron Williams of Mostyn
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/57/Coronet_of_a_British_Baron.svg/150px-Coronet_of_a_British_Baron.svg.png)
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- Crest
- A portcullis Or in front of an arm embowed vested and the cuff braided Sable frilled at the wrist the hand Proper holding by its blade upwards Argent a sword palewise to the front of the portcullis its hilt pommel and quillons Gold.
- Escutcheon
- Ermine on a pile flory at the point Sable a lion rampany Or armed and langued Gules.
- Supporters
- Dexter upon a grassy mount growing therefrom two sweet pea flowers Proper a griffin statant erect Gold sinister upon a like mount a dragon statant erect also Gold both armed and langued Gules.
- Motto
- Y Gwir Yn Erbyn Y Byd
[7]
|
References
[
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]
Bibliography
[
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]
External links
[
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]
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