Thomas Edward Williams, 1st Baron Williams (26 July 1892 – 18 February 1966), was a peer of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Williams attended

Porth Porth () is a town and community in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales. Lying in the Rhondda Valley, it is regarded as the gateway connecting the Rhondda Fawr and Rhondda Fach va ...

County School, and later

Ruskin College Ruskin College, originally known as Ruskin Hall, Oxford, is a higher education institution and part of the University of West London, in Oxford, England. It is not a Colleges of the University of Oxford, college of Oxford University. Named ...

. He moved to London and joined the Labour Party, and in 1919 was elected to Woolwich Metropolitan Borough Council. He stood unsuccessfully for the party in

Finsbury Finsbury is a district of Central London, forming the southeastern part of the London Borough of Islington. It borders the City of London. The Manorialism, Manor of Finsbury is first recorded as ''Vinisbir'' (1231) and means "manor of a man c ...

at the

1931 UK general election The 1931 United Kingdom general election was held on Tuesday, 27 October 1931. It saw a landslide election victory for the National Government, a three-party coalition which had been formed two months previously after the collapse of the secon ...

, and that year was elected to the party's National Executive Committee (NEC). In 1932, Williams was elected to

London County Council The London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today ...

, representing Camberwell North; on this council, he chaired the Parliamentary Committee. He left the council and the NEC in 1935, and focused on the

co-operative movement The history of the cooperative movement concerns the origins and history of cooperatives across the world. Although cooperative arrangements, such as mutual insurance, and principles of cooperation existed long before, the cooperative movement bega ...

, serving as president of the

Co-operative Wholesale Society A cooperative wholesale society (CWS) is a form of cooperative federation (that is, a cooperative in which all the members are cooperatives), in this case, the members are usually consumer cooperatives. The theory, practice and history of th ...

, the central executive of the

Co-operative Union Co-operatives UK is a British co-operative federation described as "the central membership organisation for co-operative enterprise throughout the UK". It was founded in 1870 as the Co-operative Central Board, changing its name to the Co-opera ...

, as chair of the English and Scottish Joint Co-operative Wholesale Society, and as president of the

Co-operative Congress The Co-operative Congress is the national conference of the UK Co-operative Movement. The first of the modern congresses took place in 1869 following a series of meetings called the " Owenite Congress" in the 1830s. Members of Co-operatives UK ...

in 1952–53. He was ennobled on 24 June 1948 as Baron Williams, of

Ynyshir Ynyshir (; English pronunciation 'Un-is-heer') is a village and community located in the Rhondda Valley, within Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales. The name of the village means "long island" in Welsh and takes its name from a farm in the area, fa ...

in the County of

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

. The peerage became extinct on his death in 1966. He was also made a Commander of the

Order of Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known as ''White Knights'' t ...

. In 1947 Williams was appointed a member of the

London Transport Executive The London Transport Executive was the organisation responsible for public transport in Greater London, England between 1948 and 1962. In common with all London transport authorities from 1933 to 2000, the public name and operational brand o ...

.''First annual report statement of accounts and statistics for the year ended 31st December, 1948'',

British Transport Commission The British Transport Commission (BTC) was created by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain (Northern Ireland had the s ...

References

External links

Parliamentary Archives, Papers of Baron Williams of Ynyshir, Glamorgan
1892 births 1966 deaths Alumni of Ruskin College Members of London County Council Barons created by George VI {{UK-baron-stub