Goronwy "Ronw" Moelwyn Hughes (6 October 1897 – 1 November 1955), known as Moelwyn Hughes was a

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 peop ...

lawyer and a

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and

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politician who was elected to two short terms as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP).

Early life

Born in Cardigan,

Wales 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 ...

, Hughes was the son of J.G. Moelwyn Hughes (1866–1944) and his wife Mya (née Lewis). He had one sister and four brothers, including Emyr Alun Moelwyn-Hughes (1905–78), a distinguished physical chemist and academic author in the department of physical chemistry at Cambridge University. Rev Hughes was a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

minister who became Moderator of the General Assembly in 1936, and was a lyric poet, hymn writer, and philosopher. A pacifist and Liberal party supporter, he followed his son's later switch in political allegiance to Labour. The younger Hughes was educated at council and county schools in Cardigan, at the

University College of Wales, Aberystwyth , mottoeng = A world without knowledge is no world at all , established = 1872 (as ''The University College of Wales'') , former_names = University of Wales, Aberystwyth , type = Public , endowment = ...

, and at Downing College, Cambridge, where he gained a First-Class Honours degree in Law. His family moved to

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

in 1917, and Hughes was elected there as a local councillor. In 1922 he entered the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

on the

Northern Circuit {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019 The Northern Circuit is a court circuit in England. It dates from 1176 when Henry II sent his judges on circuit to do justice in his name. The Circuit encompassed the whole of the North of England but in 1876 i ...

, and was later appointed as a Lecturer in International Law at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

. He was made a K.C. in 1943.

Political career

At the 1929 general election, he stood as a Liberal candidate in the safe Labour Party-held constituency of Rhondda West, losing heavily to the sitting Labour MP William John. In October 1930 he was chosen as Liberal candidate for the more winnable

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

seat but at the 1931 general election, he was well beaten by the Conservative candidate. Soon after Hughes joined the Labour Party, and stood unsuccessfully as the Labour candidate in the Cardiganshire constituency at the 1935 general election.Silent film footage
of his 1935 election campaign in Cardiganshire is available online at the Welsh "Gathering the Jewels" website He was elected to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

at an unopposed by-election in 1941, as

for

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

, following the resignation of Labour MP Major Daniel Hopkin MC. However, at the

1945 general election The following elections occurred in the year 1945. Africa * 1945 South-West African legislative election Asia * 1945 Indian general election Australia * 1945 Fremantle by-election Europe * 1945 Albanian parliamentary election * 1945 Bulgarian ...

, he lost the seat by 1,279 votes to the Liberal candidate

Rhys Hopkin Morris Sir Rhys Hopkin Morris (5 September 1888 – 22 November 1956) was a Wales, Welsh Liberal Party (UK), Liberal politician who was a Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament from 1923–1932 and from 1945–1956. Ear ...

. Hughes returned to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

at the 1950 general election, when he was elected as (MP) for the safe Labour seat of

Islington North Islington North () is a constituency in Greater London represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 1983 by Jeremy Corbyn. He served as Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of Her Majesty's Opposition from 2015 to 2020. Cor ...

, in

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. He represented the constituency for only one year, until he stepped down at the 1951 general election. A block of flats in Hilldrop Crescent, Holloway, in Islington North, is named Moelwyn Hughes Court.

Moelwyn Hughes Report

In March 1946 33 people were killed and hundreds injured at the

Burnden Park Burnden Park was the home of English football club Bolton Wanderers who played home games there between 1895 and 1997. As well as hosting the 1901 FA Cup Final replay, it was the scene in 1946 of one of the greatest disasters in English footba ...

grounds of Bolton Wanderers football club, who were playing Stoke City in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

match. Hughes was appointed to lead the official inquiry into the disaster, and his report recommended limitations on crowd sizes. An estimated 85,000 fans were present in a stadium with capacity for only 60,000.

Private life

Ronw's wife Louise Mary, eldest daughter of the judge Arthur Greer, 1st Baron Fairfield, survived him on his death in 1955 at the age of 58. They had two sons and one daughter.

Notes

References

*
Liverpool Welsh characters
*

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Ronw Moelwyn 1897 births 1955 deaths People from Cardigan, Ceredigion Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge Welsh lawyers Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Welsh Labour Party MPs Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1950–1951 20th-century Welsh lawyers Aberystwyth Old Students' Association Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Carmarthenshire constituencies