Goronwy Owen Goronwy-Roberts, Baron Goronwy-Roberts,

FRSA The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

PC (20 September 1913 – 23 July 1981), was a Welsh Labour

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 ...

Early life

Roberts was the younger son of Edward and Amelia Roberts from

Bethesda, Gwynedd Bethesda (; ) is a town and community on the River Ogwen and the A5 road on the edge of Snowdonia, in Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It is the fifth-largest community in Gwynedd. History The settlement's ancient name was Cilfoden, formerly know ...

, where his father was an elder of the Presbyterian Church of Wales. He was educated at Ogwen Grammar School, Bethesda and the University College of North Wales, Bangor (now

Bangor University , former_names = University College of North Wales (1884–1996) University of Wales, Bangor (1996–2007) , image = File:Arms_of_Bangor_University.svg , image_size = 250px , caption = Arms ...

). Later he attended the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

and was appointed a Fellow of the University of Wales in 1938. While at Bangor, Roberts, together with Harri Gwynn was one of the founders of Mudiad Gwerin, a nationalist left-wing pressure group. Roberts served in the army in 1940-41 and in the army reserve until 1944. From 1941 until 1944 he worked as Youth Education Officer for Caernarfonshire and in 1944 was appointed lecturer in youth leadership at the

University College of Swansea , former_names=University College of Swansea, University of Wales Swansea , motto= cy, Gweddw crefft heb ei dawn , mottoeng="Technical skill is bereft without culture" , established=1920 – University College of Swansea 1996 – University of Wa ...

Member of Parliament

Goronwy Roberts was elected Labour MP for

Caernarvonshire , HQ= County Hall, Caernarfon , Map= , Image= Flag , Motto= Cadernid Gwynedd (The strength of Gwynedd) , year_start= , Arms= ''Coat of arms of Caerna ...

in 1945, when he defeated the sitting Liberal MP Goronwy Owen, who had held the seat since 1923. Following boundary changes, he was elected to represent Caernarvon at the 1950 General Election, defeating the Liberal candidate by over 10,000 votes. He continued to represent the constituency until February 1974, when he lost his seat to

Dafydd Wigley Dafydd Wynne Wigley, Baron Wigley, (born David Wigley; 1 April 1943) is a Welsh politician. He served as Plaid Cymru Member of Parliament (MP) for Caernarfon from 1974 until 2001 and as Assembly Member for Caernarfon from 1999 until 2003. He w ...

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid wa ...

. During the 1950s, Roberts was, together with

Cledwyn Hughes Cledwyn Hughes, Baron Cledwyn of Penrhos, (14 September 1916 – 22 February 2001) was a Welsh Labour Party politician, usually associated with the moderate wing of the party. He was also regarded, particularly in later years, as a non-politic ...

and others, a stalwart of the Parliament for Wales campaign. In 1951, Plaid Cymru announced that the party would not oppose him at the General Election due to his support for the campaign. Eventually, he presented the final petition to Parliament, bearing more than 250,000 signatures, in May 1956. He was a member of the House of Commons Chairmen's Panel in 1963–64, and served in government as

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. I ...

at the

Welsh Office The Welsh Office ( cy, Swyddfa Gymreig) was a department in the Government of the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Wales. It was established in April 1965 to execute government policy in Wales, and was headed by the Secretary of State f ...

from 1964 to 1966, Minister of State at the

Department for Education and Science The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) was a United Kingdom government department between 2001 and 2007, responsible for the education system (including higher education and adult learning) as well as children's services in England. Th ...

from 1966 to 1967, Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 1967–69, and

Minister of State for Trade The Minister of State for Trade Policy is a mid-level role at the Department for International Trade in the Government of the United Kingdom. It is currently held by Greg Hands, who took the office on 9 October 2022. The minister deputizes for ...

1969–70. When Labour lost power in 1970, Roberts became an opposition spokesman on Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. He was appointed a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of ei ...

in 1968.

House of Lords and later life

On his defeat at the February General election in 1974 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 ...

as Baron Goronwy-Roberts, of Caernarfon and of Ogwen in the County of

Caernarfonshire , HQ= County Hall, Caernarfon , Map= , Image= Flag , Motto= Cadernid Gwynedd (The strength of Gwynedd) , year_start= , Arms= ''Coat of arms of Caerna ...

. He returned to government as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 1974-75 and as Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 1975–79. He was Deputy

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 ...

, 1975–79.

Personal life

Roberts was a Member of the Court of Governors of the

National Library of Wales The National Library of Wales ( cy, Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru), Aberystwyth, is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million ...

, the

National Museum of Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

and 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 = ...

(now

Aberystwyth University , 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 = ...

). He was Chairman of the Welsh publishing house, Hughes a'i fab, from 1955 to 1959. He was appointed a

in 1968 and an Honorary Freeman of the Royal Borough of Caernarfon in 1972. In 1942 Roberts married Marian Ann Evans, daughter of David and Elizabeth Evans of Robertstown,

Aberdare Aberdare ( ; cy, Aberdâr) is a town in the Cynon Valley area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, at the confluence of the Rivers Dare (Dâr) and Cynon. Aberdare has a population of 39,550 (mid-2017 estimate). Aberdare is south-west of Merthyr Tyd ...

. They had two children: a daughter, Ann, and a son, Dafydd. Marion Goronwy-Roberts wrote a biography of

Marion Phillips Marion Phillips (29 October 1881 – 23 January 1932) was a Labour Party politician and Member of Parliament in England. Early life and education Marion Philllips was born on 29 October 1881 in Melbourne, Australia. Her parents were Phill ...

, the pioneering Labour campaigner for women's rights, and a number of books in Welsh, including the centenary lecture at the 1981 Welsh National Eisteddfod on the Welsh poet, scholar and politician, W. J. Gruffydd.

Assessment

Goronwy Roberts was a strong supporter of devolution and of Welsh culture but was also a fierce critic of what he regarded as the nationalistic excess of

. His own roots were in the Labour tradition of the quarry working communities of his constituency. His Welsh was fluent and attractive ("swynol, dawel, gerddorol"). He was greatly troubled by his defeat at the General Election of 1974.

References

Sources

Books and Journals

* *

Online

* * *

Other

*Times Guide to the House of Commons February 1974 *Who Was Who * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Goronwy 1913 births 1981 deaths People from Gwynedd Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Alumni of the University of London Alumni of the University of Wales People associated with Aberystwyth University Members of Parliament for Caernarfon Welsh Labour Party MPs UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 UK MPs 1970–1974 Ministers in the Wilson governments, 1964–1970 Goronwy-Roberts UK MPs who were granted peerages Life peers created by Elizabeth II