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 The leader of the House of Lords is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom who is responsible for arranging government business in the House of Lords. The post is also the leader of the majority party in the House of Lords who acts as ...

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 Prestatyn is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. Historically a part of Flintshire, it is located on the Irish Sea coast, to the east of Rhyl. Prestatyn has a population of 19,085, History Prehistory There is evidence that the ...

, in

North Wales , area_land_km2 = 6,172 , postal_code_type = Postcode , postal_code = LL, CH, SY , image_map1 = Wales North Wales locator map.svg , map_caption1 = Six principal areas of Wales common ...

, a son of Albert Thomas Williams and his wife Selina, ''née'' Evans. He was educated at Rhyl Grammar School 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 ...

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

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 Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in 2 ...

, 1987–89, and a Member of the

Bar Council {{see also, Bar association A bar council ( ga, Comhairle an Bharra) or bar association, in a common law jurisdiction with a legal profession split between solicitors and barristers or advocates, is a professional body that regulates the profess ...

, 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 The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

on Legal Affairs, and later

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. After Labour's election victory he was appointed a Home Office minister, and in 1999 became

Attorney General for England and Wales His Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales is one of the law officers of the Crown and the principal legal adviser to sovereign and Government in affairs pertaining to England and Wales. The attorney general maintains the Attorney ...

and

. He was appointed

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 Christopher Paul Mullin (born July 30, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player, executive and coach. He is a two-time Olympic Gold medalist and a two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee (in 2010 as a memb ...

wrote that he thought that Gareth Williams was most likely to succeed Derry Irvine as Lord Chancellor; the position was next filled by Charles Falconer.

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 Evenlode is a village and civil parish ( ONS Code 23UC051) in the Cotswold District of eastern Gloucestershire in England. Evenlode is bordered by the Gloucestershire parishes of Moreton-in-Marsh to the northwest, Longborough and Donnington to ...

, 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 Julian Wyatt Glover (born 27 March 1935) is an English classical actor with many stage, television, and film roles since commencing his career in the 1950s. He is a recipient of the Laurence Olivier Award and has performed many times for th ...

, dated Friday, 28 June 2002, giving the peer's views on reform of the

*

- 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