John Lasarus Williams (29 October 1924 – 15 June 2004), known as John L, was a Welsh nationalist activist. Williams was born in Llangoed on Anglesey, but lived most of his life in nearby Llanfairpwllgwyngyll. In his youth, he was a keen footballer, and he also worked as a teacher. His activism started when he campaigned against the refusal of Brewer Spinks, an employer in

Blaenau Ffestiniog Blaenau Ffestiniog is a town in Gwynedd, Wales. Once a slate mining centre in historic Merionethshire, it now relies much on tourists, drawn for instance to the Ffestiniog Railway and Llechwedd Slate Caverns. It reached a population of 12,00 ...

, to permit his staff to speak

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

. This inspired him to become a founder of Undeb y Gymraeg Fyw, and through this organisation was the main organiser of ''Sioe Gymraeg y Borth'' (the Welsh show for Menai Bridge using the colloquial form of its Welsh name).Colli John L Williams
, ''

BBC Cymru BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, BBC Cymru Wales i ...

'', 15 June 2004 Williams also joined Plaid Cymru. He was a long-serving councillor on

Gwynedd Gwynedd (; ) is a county and preserved county (latter with differing boundaries; includes the Isle of Anglesey) in the north-west of Wales. It shares borders with Powys, Conwy County Borough, Denbighshire, Anglesey over the Menai Strait, and C ...

County Council, and was twice the party's candidate for Anglesey, at the

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

and 1979 general elections.Seremoni i gofio arloeswr
, ''

'', 26 September 2005 Williams later worked at Bangor Normal College, lecturing in Welsh. He wrote a number of books, on history, the Welsh language, and also his autobiography.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, John L. (Welsh nationalist) 1924 births 2004 deaths Academics of Bangor University Councillors in Wales People from Anglesey Plaid Cymru politicians Welsh-language writers