Arthur John Williams (Q59919)

Arthur John Williams (1830-1911), from Bridgend, Glamorgan, was Liberal M. P. for Glamorgan South, 1885-1895. He was called to the Bar in 1867. He was active in Liberal Party affairs for many years, and stood unsuccessfully as the Liberal candidate for Birkenhead in 1880. He was one of the founders of the National Liberal Club in 1881. He campaigned for proportional representation and the abolition of hereditary peers in the House of Lords, corresponding with prominent Liberals on these matters. Together with Lloyd George, he promoted the disestablishment of the Church of England in Wales and the reform of land tenure in Wales. In 1887, he married Rose Harriette Thompson Crawshay (1848-1943), against the wishes of her father, Robert Thompson Crawshay of Cyfarthfa, who, in a codicil to his will, ensured that no child from the marriage would benefit from the Crawshay fortune. They had two sons, Leonard Eliot (1879-1962) and Leslie (b. 1880).