Sir Brandon Meredith Rhys-Williams, 2nd Baronet (born Brandon Meredith Rhys Williams; 14 November 1927 – 18 May 1988) was a British

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kensington South from

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

to 1974, and for

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

from 1974 until his death.

Background

Brandon Meredith Rhys Williams was born in 1927. His father, Sir Rhys Rhys-Williams, had been a Liberal MP. His mother, Juliet Rhys-Williams, was another Liberal politician who later joined the Conservative Party and became a member of the Conservative Monday Club. He took the surname Rhys-Williams in 1938. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and Bolton Technical College. From 1946 to 1948, he was in the Welsh Guards. After his father's death, Brandon Rhys-Williams inherited his estate at

Miskin Miskin () is a village approximately south of Llantrisant in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. The origin of the village was a small hamlet (place), hamlet known as New Mill, which grew up around New Mill farm. Miskin is part of ...

Parliamentary career

Rhys-Williams contested

Pontypridd Pontypridd ( , ), Colloquialism, colloquially referred to as ''Ponty'', is a town and a Community (Wales), community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, approximately 10 miles north west of Cardiff city centre. Geography Pontypridd comprises the ...

1959 Events January * January 1 – Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 – Soviet lunar probe Luna 1 is the first human-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reaches the ...

, and

Ebbw Vale Ebbw Vale (; ) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr conurbation has a ...

in the 1960 by-election following the death of

Aneurin Bevan Aneurin "Nye" Bevan Privy Council (United Kingdom), PC (; 15 November 1897 – 6 July 1960) was a Welsh Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician, noted for spearheading the creation of the British National Health Service during his t ...

as well as the same constituency in the following general election. He was defeated each time in these safe Labour seats. He was elected a Member of Parliament (MP) in the 1968 Kensington South by-election, representing that seat until February 1974, then for

from February 1974 until his death. He was also a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

from 1973 until 1984.

Personal life and death

Rhys-Williams and his wife, the former Caroline Foster, had one son and two daughters. He lived in London and

Groes-faen Groes-faen is a village approximately three miles south of Llantrisant in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It is in the Historic counties of Wales, historic county of Glamorgan. The village began as a hamlet (place), hamlet in th ...

. On 18 May 1988, Rhys-Williams died from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

, as a complication of

leukaemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...

, at

Westminster Hospital Westminster Hospital was a hospital in London, England, founded in 1719. In 1834 a medical school attached to the hospital was formally founded. In 1939 a newly built hospital and medical school opened in Horseferry Road, Westminster. In 1994 the ...

, aged 60. In the subsequent by-election for Kensington, the seat was held for the Conservatives by Dudley Fishburn. Rhys-Williams was buried at St David's Church in Groes-faen.

References

*''The Times Guide to the House of Commons'', Times Newspapers Ltd, 1987 *
The National Library for Wales:Digital of Welsh Biography (Sir Brandon Rhys-Williams)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhys-Williams, Brandon 1927 births 1988 deaths Alumni of the University of Greater Manchester Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom British people of Welsh descent Conservative Party (UK) MEPs Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Deaths from leukemia in England Deaths from pneumonia in England MEPs for England 1979–1984 MEPs for the United Kingdom 1973–1979 Place of birth missing UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 Welsh Guards soldiers

Background

Parliamentary career

Personal life and death

References

Archives

External links