Sir Arthur Leonard Williams (22 January 1904 – 27 December 1972) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

politician who was General Secretary of the Labour Party during the 1960s.

Early life

Born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in 1904, he began working on the steam engines of the railway as a boy, doing the dirty jobs of cleaning out the ashes and the boilers on the engines. He became involved in the union movement after

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, rising through various positions to attain the position of General Secretary of the British Labour Party. After retiring from that post he was knighted and appointed Governor-General of Mauritius in 1968 and served in that capacity until his death. He was also involved in the Scout movement. He was married to Margaret Wiggins. There were no children of the marriage.

References

1904 births 1972 deaths Labour Party (UK) officials Governors-general of Mauritius Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George {{UK-politician-stub