Sir Rhys Rhys-Williams, 1st Baronet, (20 October 1865 – 29 January 1955), born Rhys Williams, was a British

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 from

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. He later left the Liberal Party for the

Conservatives 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 civilizati ...

.''The Times'', 31 January 1955

Family

Rhys-Williams was the son of Judge Gwilym Williams and Emma Eleanor Williams JP. His wife Juliet Rhys-Williams (née Glyn) was a writer and prominent Liberal politician who, like her husband, later joined the Conservative Party via the Liberal Nationals. They met in 1919 when Juliet Glyn began working for Rhys-Williams as his private secretary during his period of office as parliamentary secretary at the

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

. They married on 24 February 1921. They had two sons and two daughters. Their son, Sir Brandon Rhys-Williams became a Conservative MP and

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 ...

.''Who was Who'', OUP 2007

Education

Rhys-Williams 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 ...

, which he entered in 1880, and

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is Colleges of the University of Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title for ...

Military service

In the First World War he served in the

Welsh Guards The Welsh Guards (WLSH GDS; ), part of the Guards and Parachute Division, Guards Division, is one of the Foot guards, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. It was founded in 1915 as a single-battalion regiment, during the World War I, First ...

, reaching the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He saw active service, was wounded, was twice

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

and won the DSO.The Times, 31 January 1955 In 1915 he served for a year as Acting

Military Attaché A military attaché or defence attaché (DA),Defence Attachés
''Geneva C ...

at the British

Legation A legation was a diplomatic representative office of lower rank than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an ambassador, a legation was headed by a minister. Ambassadors outranked ministers and had precedence at official events. Legation ...

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

. He ran an intelligence service for the Russians in their campaigns against the Turks and was awarded the

Order of St. Vladimir The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir () was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptizer of the Kievan Rus'. Grades The order had four ...

with the Swords by the Czar in 1916. In 1917 Rhys-Williams was attached the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

to act as Assistant Director-General Movements and Railways.

Legal career

Williams was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

at the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in 1890 and joined the South Wales Circuit. He also practised in the Parliamentary Committee Rooms. He

took silk A King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarch is a woman, the title is Qu ...

in 1913. In 1906 Rhys-Williams became Chairman of

Quarter Sessions The courts of quarter sessions or quarter sessions were local courts that were traditionally held at four set times each year in the Kingdom of England from 1388; they were extended to Wales following the Laws in Wales Act 1535. Scotland establ ...

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 ...

in succession to his father. From 1922, Rhys-Williams served as

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a newsp ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

Politics

Williams was first returned to Parliament as Member of Parliament (MP) for

Banbury Banbury is an historic market town and civil parish on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. The parish had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding ...

at a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

in September 1918 and was returned unopposed at the 1918 general election as Coalition Liberal. On his appointment as

he was obliged to resign from Parliament and fight a by-election on 22 June but he was again returned unopposed. He served on until the 1922 general election when he stood in a different seat and was defeated. In 1919 Rhys-Williams was appointed parliamentary secretary to the Ministry of Transport under the direction of the Minister of Transport

Sir Eric Geddes Sir Eric Campbell Geddes (26 September 1875 – 22 June 1937) was a Great Britain, British businessman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician. With a background in railways, he served as head of Military Transportation on the ...

. However he soon fell out with Geddes and resigned just two months after being appointed. In 1923, Rhys-Williams was approached by the

Aberavon Aberavon () is a town and community in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales. The town derived its name from being near the mouth of the river Afan, which also gave its name to a medieval lordship. Today it is essentially a district of Por ...

Liberal Association to stand as their candidate in the forthcoming

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

in opposition to Labour leader

Ramsay MacDonald James Ramsay MacDonald (; 12 October 18669 November 1937) was a British statesman and politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. The first two of his governments belonged to the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, where he led ...

but he declined. By the 1930s, Rhys-Williams had become more anti-socialist in stance. Never a great party man, in March 1931 he tried to get the Liberal candidate at the

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 ...

, Captain G Crawshay, to make a public statement that as soon as the Labour government introduced what he described as any openly socialist measure he would vote to try to turn out the government. Rhys-Williams promised Crawshay that if he would make this pledge he would do his best to get the Conservatives to stand aside and support him in a straight fight against Labour. When Crawshay refused to agree Rhys-Williams came out in support of David Evans, the Conservative candidate in the by-election. In the event the seat was easily retained by Labour, with Crawshay in second place and Evans third.

Baronetcy

Rhys-Williams was created a

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

in June 1918, shortly before entering

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. After his death, the baronetcy was inherited by his son Brandon Rhys-Williams, who later served for over twenty years as a Conservative MP.

Miskin Manor

Williams inherited his father's estate in Wales,

Miskin Manor Miskin Manor is a Victorian manor house built in 1864 in a Tudor style, situated in the village of Miskin in Rhondda Cynon Taf, south Wales. The estate was owned by the Williams family including Rhys Rhys-Williams for many years who were descend ...

, after which his baronetcy was named. In 1923 the manor house was partly consumed by fire which destroyed the south wing. In 1940 the manor house was taken over by the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

and used as a convalescent home.''The Times'', 1 November 1954 Lady Williams was commandant of the Red Cross Hospital there and continued to occupy part of the building, giving the manor as her home address when writing to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' in 1943. The manor was then passed from the Red Cross to the local health authority in 1948 for continued use as a hospital. This arrangement later caused Sir Rhys some distress in old age and he lodged a formal protest at the actions of the Pontypridd and Rhondda Hospital Committee, claiming they had deprived him of the use of the house for six years and had paid only the sum £1 4s in rent during this period. Sir Rhys alleged that the hospital committee were now refusing to buy the house, having previously agreed to do. However the hospital was expensive to run and the Hospital Management Committee gave notice they were going to close it and that it was not economic to buy the manor. Lady Williams continued to occupy the manor after her husband's death in 1955.''The Times'', 29 August 1956 Sir Rhys served as the first President of Llantrisant and Pontyclun Golf Club, formed in 1927.

Death

Rhys-Williams died in London aged 89 years on 29 January 1955.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhys-Williams, Rhys 1865 births 1955 deaths Liberal Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1910–1918 UK MPs 1918–1922 Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Members of the Inner Temple Welsh Guards officers British Army personnel of World War I Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Welsh King's Counsel Conservative Party (UK) politicians National Liberal Party (UK, 1922) politicians People educated at Eton College English barristers