Captain Iolo Aneurin Williams (18 June 1890 – 18 January 1962), was a British writer, journalist and

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

politician. His son was the composer Edward Williams.

Background

Williams was born in

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

, the son of

Aneurin Williams Aneurin Williams (11 October 1859 – 20 January 1924) was a British Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party politician. Background He was born in Dowlais, Glamorganshire, the second son of Edward Williams, CE, JP, ironmaster, of Cleveland Lodge, Mid ...

, who was a Liberal member of parliament. He was the brother of Ursula Williams who was also a Liberal politician. He was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

and

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

. In 1920 he married Francion Elinor Dixon. They had one son and two daughters.

Folk Song Collecting

Williams began collecting folk songs in the area around his home in

Hindhead Hindhead is a village in the Waverley, Surrey, Waverley district of the county of Surrey, England. It is the highest village in the county and its buildings are between and above sea level. The village forms part of the Haslemere parish. Situ ...

in 1912. He would cycle around the countryside and make contact with potential sources, sometimes with the assistance of the local Vicar. Being unable to write down the tunes he collected only the words. When he had sufficient sets of words he would return with either Clive Carey or

Frederick Keel James Frederick Keel (8 May 18719 August 1954) was an English composer of art songs, baritone singer and academic. Keel was a successful recitalist and a professor of singing at the Royal Academy of Music. He combined scholarly and artistic inte ...

who would note the tunes. His collecting ceased with the outbreak of the 1st World War. After war he succeeded

as Honorary Secretary of the Folk Song Society.

Military Service

Williams began as a volunteer driver for the B.R.C.S (

British Red Cross The British Red Cross Society () is the United Kingdom body of the worldwide neutral and impartial humanitarian network the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The society was formed in 1870, and is a registered charity with 1 ...

). He was given a temporary commission of Lieutenant in the West Yorkshire Regiment and was later premoted to Captain. The only record available is his Medal Index Card which does not give any dates.

Professional career

Williams was Bibliographical Correspondent of the ''

London Mercury ''The London Mercury'' was the name of several periodicals published in London from the 17th to the 20th centuries. The earliest was a newspaper that appeared during the Exclusion Bill crisis; it lasted only 56 issues (1682). (Earlier periodical ...

'' from 1920–1939. He made contributions to the ''

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'' and the ''Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature''. He was a published poet and writer.

Publications

*''Poems'', 1915 *''New Poems'', 1919 *''Byways Round Helicon'', 1922 *''Shorter Poems of the 18th Century'', 1923 *''Seven 18th Century Bibliographies'', 1924 *Editor: ''plays of Sheridan'', 1926 *''Elements of Book-Collecting'', 1927 *''Poetry To-day'', 1927 *''Where the Bee Sucks'', 1929 (illustrated by Katharine Cameron) *''The Firm of Cadbury'', 1931 *''Points in 18th Century Verse'', 1934 *''English Folk Song and Dance'', 1935 *''Flowers of Marsh and Stream'' (King Penguin), 1946 *''Early English Water-Colours'', 1952

Political career

Williams was Liberal candidate for the Chelsea division of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

at the 1924 General Election. Chelsea was a safe Unionist seat, so he was not expected to win. 1924 was not a good election for the Liberals and he came in third place in the race. Despite this, he contested Chelsea again at the 1929 General Election, a better election for the Liberals. He increased the Liberal share of the vote, but still finished third. He did not stand for parliament again.British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1973, FWS Craig

Electoral record

Family tree

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Iolo Aneurin 1890 births 1962 deaths Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates People educated at Rugby School Alumni of King's College, Cambridge 20th-century English poets