Robert Godfrey Wynn Williams (11 September 1864 – 8 September 1929) was a

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

and member of the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly h ...

Early days

Wynn Williams was born on 11 September 1864 in Jermyn Street (now

Anzac Avenue Anzac Avenue is a heritage-listed major arterial road lined with trees in the City of Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. It runs from Petrie to Redcliffe, with most of the route signed as state route 71. The route was formerly the main r ...

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand, to parents Robert Wynne Williams and his wife Jane (née Lloyd). His uncle

Henry Wynn-Williams William Henry Wynn-Williams (1828 – 27 October 1913) was a 19th-century Member of Parliament from Canterbury, New Zealand. He was a prominent lawyer in Christchurch. Early life Wynn-Williams was born in August 1828 in Llangar, Conwy County B ...

was the first to add "Wynn" to his surname, and his father then added "Wynne" to his surname. It is not clear where this originates from, and it could either refer to the old-English word for 'friend', Welsh for 'fair', or to the Reverend John Wynne who had baptised Sir Charles Williams, his father's oldest surviving brother. Aged 8, Robert Wynn Williams was sent to

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 ...

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter, located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. T ...

to receive his education. Aged 15, he returned to New Zealand to train in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

under his uncle Henry as a lawyer. After he was admitted to the

Supreme Court of New Zealand The Supreme Court of New Zealand () is the highest court and the court of last resort of New Zealand. It formally came into being on 1 January 2004 and sat for the first time on 1 July 2004. It replaced the right of appeal to the Judicial Co ...

at age 21, he practised as a lawyer for some time in

before declining health prompted him to move to Ireland. In 1890 he was working as a surveyor in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

before working as a solicitor for Thynne and Macartney in Brisbane in 1892. He headed to

Charters Towers Charters Towers is a rural town in the Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It is by road south-west from Townsville on the Flinders Highway. During the last quarter of the 19th century, the town boomed as the rich gold deposits und ...

in 1894 to start his own practice, specialising in mining and company law, operating this business up until his death in 1929.

Political career

Wynn Williams, representing the Ministerialists, won the seat of

at the 1912 state elections. He held the seat for three years, being defeated in

1915 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January *January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction". *January 1 * ...

Personal life

On 21 April 1894, Wynn Williams married Elizabeth Macpherson (died 1951)Family history research
— Queensland Government births, deaths, marriages, and divorces. Retrieved 6 March 2016. in Sydney. He died in Charters Towers in 1929 and was buried in the Lynd Highway Cemetery.Charters Towers Regional Council Burial Register
— Charters Towers City Council. Retrieved 12 March 2016.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wynn Williams, Robert Godfrey 1864 births 1929 deaths Politicians from Auckland Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly 19th-century New Zealand lawyers 20th-century New Zealand lawyers New Zealand emigrants to Australia