Edward Francis Williams, Baron Francis-Williams (10 March 1903 – 5 June 1970), known as Frank Williams, was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

newspaper editor An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

, political advisor and author.

Early life

Born in

St Martin's, Shropshire The border village and civil parish of St Martin's ( cy, Llanfarthin) is in Shropshire, England, just north of Oswestry and east of Chirk. History The ancient Parish of St Martin's was made up of the townships of Ifton, Wiggington, Bronygart ...

, Williams studied at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Middleton, before entering journalism.''

Dod's Parliamentary Companion ''Dods Parliamentary Companion'' (formerly "Dod's Parliamentary Companion") is an annual politics reference book published in the United Kingdom. It provides biographies and contact information on members of the Houses of Parliament and the Ci ...

'', Vol.134, p.104 He worked on the ''Bootle Times'' and then the '' Liverpool Courier'', and was convinced of

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

by the conditions he saw. He moved to London to take up a post as a financial journalist on the ''

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'', but soon moved to the '' Daily Herald'', a paper with views closer to his own.

Breakout

Editor of the ''Daily Herald''

In 1936, he accepted the editorship of the '' Daily Herald'', serving until 1940.

Political involvement

In 1941, he became Controller of Press Censorship and News at the Ministry of Information, and for his work he was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in 1945. He then became the

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

advisor to Labour Party

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. He was Deputy Prime Mini ...

for two years, the first person to hold such a position. From 1951 to 1952, he was a governor of the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

. On 13 April 1962 he was created a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

as Baron Francis-Williams, of

Abinger Abinger is a large, well-wooded and mostly rural civil parish that lies between the settlements of Dorking, Shere and Ewhurst in the district of Mole Valley, Surrey, England. It adjoins Wotton Common on the same side of Leith Hill and inclu ...

in the

County of Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

Academia

Professorship

Williams served as Regents' Professor at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, in 1961, and Kemper Knapp Visiting Professor at the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

from 1967 until his death.

Books

He wrote several books, including a biography of

Ernest Bevin Ernest Bevin (9 March 1881 – 14 April 1951) was a British statesman, trade union leader, and Labour Party politician. He co-founded and served as General Secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union in the years 1922–19 ...

, and he co-authored

's autobiography.''Dod's Parliamentary Companion'', Vol.137, p.108 For the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

, he wrote ''Transmitting World News'' (1953). In 1957, Francis produced a history of the press, entitled ''Dangerous Estate,'' part of which was devoted to explaining the rise and fall in the circulation of newspapers.

External links

The Papers of Lord Francis-Williams
held at

Churchill Archives Centre The Churchill Archives Centre (CAC) at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge is one of the largest repositories in the United Kingdom for the preservation and study of modern personal papers. It is best known for housing the papers of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Edward Francis 1903 births 1970 deaths British newspaper editors Labour Party (UK) life peers Members of the Fabian Society Writers from Shropshire Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Life peers created by Elizabeth II Press secretaries