Gareth Wyn Williams, Baron Williams of Mostyn, (5 February 1941 – 20 September 2003), was a Welsh

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

and Labour politician who was Leader of the House of Lords,

Lord President of the Council The lord president of the Council is the presiding officer of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and the fourth of the Great Officers of State (United Kingdom), Great Officers of State, ranking below the Lord High Treasurer but above the ...

and a member of the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

from 2001 until his sudden death in 2003.

Early life

Williams was born near Prestatyn, in North Wales, a son of Albert Thomas Williams and his wife Selina, ''née'' Evans. He was educated at

Rhyl Grammar School Rhyl High School is one of two high schools in Rhyl, Wales. It was founded in 1894. History Rhyl and District Intermediate School was founded in 1894. In 1901 the school was relocated to Grange Road and became Rhyl County School. The school sub ...

and at

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...

Legal career

He had an outstanding legal career.

Called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

at Gray's Inn in 1965, he took silk in 1978, was a Recorder from 1978, a Deputy High Court Judge, 1986-92, the Leader of the Wales and Chester Circuit, 1987–89, and a Member of the Bar Council, 1986-92 (Chairman, 1992).

Political career

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 ...

on 20 July 1992 as Baron Williams of Mostyn, ''of

Great Tew Great Tew is an English village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about north-east of Chipping Norton and south-west of Banbury. The 2011 Census gave a parish population of 156. This qualifies it for an annual parish meeting, not a monthly p ...

in the County of Oxfordshire'', 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 A sinecure ( or ; from the Latin , 'without', and , 'care') is an office, carrying a salary or otherwise generating income, that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service. The term originated in the medieval chu ...

office of

Lord Privy Seal The Lord Privy Seal (or, more formally, the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal) is the fifth of the Great Officers of State (United Kingdom), Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and abov ...

, for which

was substituted in 2003.

Reputation among his colleagues

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. In his book ''A View from the Foothills'' Chris Mullin wrote that he thought that Gareth Williams was most likely to succeed

Derry Irvine Alexander Andrew Mackay Irvine, Baron Irvine of Lairg, (born 23 June 1940), known as Derry Irvine, is a Scottish lawyer, judge and political figure who served as Lord Chancellor under his former pupil barrister, Tony Blair. Education Irvine ...

as Lord Chancellor; the position was next filled by

Charles Falconer Charles Leslie Falconer, Baron Falconer of Thoroton, (born 19 November 1951) is a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Peerages in the United Kingdom, peer and barrister who served as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice under Prim ...

Personal life

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. 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

, Oxfordshire.

References

Bibliography

* '' Burke's Peerage & Baronetage'' (106th edition, 1999) edited by Charles Mosley

External links

*
Interview: Lord Williams
- ''Guardian Unlimited Politics'' interview with Lord Williams by Julian Glover, dated Friday, 28 June 2002, giving the peer's views on reform of the House of Lords *

- Dictionary of Welsh Biography , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Gareth 1941 births 2003 deaths People from Prestatyn 20th-century Welsh lawyers 20th-century Welsh politicians 21st-century Welsh politicians Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Attorneys General for England and Wales Attorneys General for Northern Ireland Burials in Oxfordshire Labour Party (UK) life peers Leaders of the House of Lords Lord Presidents of the Council Lords Privy Seal Members of Gray's Inn Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Northern Ireland Government ministers 20th-century King's Counsel Welsh King's Counsel Welsh barristers Welsh socialists