Francis Williams, Baron Francis-Williams
The Lord Francis-Williams | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Downing Street Press Secretary | |
| In office 1945–1947 | |
| Prime Minister | Clement Attlee |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Philip Jordan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Edward Francis Williams 10 March 1903 St Martin's, Shropshire, England |
| Died | 5 June 1970 (aged 67) |
| Education | Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Middleton |
Edward Francis Williams, Baron Francis-Williams CBE (10 March 1903 – 5 June 1970), known as Frank Williams,[citation needed] was a British newspaper editor, political advisor and author.
Early life
[edit]Born in St Martin's, Shropshire,[1] Williams studied at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Middleton, before entering journalism.[2] He worked on the Bootle Times and then the Liverpool Courier, and was convinced of socialism by the conditions he saw. He moved to London to take up a post as a financial journalist on the Evening Standard, but soon moved to the Daily Herald, a paper with views closer to his own.[3]
Breakout
[edit]Editor of the Daily Herald
[edit]In 1936, he accepted the editorship of the Daily Herald, serving until 1940.
Political involvement
[edit]In 1941, he became Controller of Press Censorship and News at the Ministry of Information, and for his work he was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1945.[4] He then became the public relations advisor to Labour Party Prime Minister Clement Attlee for two years, the first person to hold such a position.[5] From 1951 to 1952, he was a governor of the BBC. On 13 April 1962 he was created a life peer as Baron Francis-Williams, of Abinger in the County of Surrey.[2][6]
Academia
[edit]Professorship
[edit]Williams served as Regents' Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1961, and Kemper Knapp Visiting Professor at the University of Wisconsin from 1967 until his death.[7]
Books
[edit]He wrote several books, including a biography of Ernest Bevin, and he co-authored Clement Attlee's autobiography.[8] His The Triple Challenge: The Future of Socialist Britain (1948) explains the main Labour programs started under Attlee. or the UNESCO, he wrote Transmitting World News (1953). In 1957, Francis produced a history of the press, entitled Dangerous Estate, part of which was devoted to explaining the rise and fall in the circulation of newspapers.[9]
External links
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Current Reading", News and Courier, 20 December 1970
- ^ a b Dod's Parliamentary Companion, Vol.134, p.104
- ^ Max Laidlaw, "A Prairie Bookshelf", Leader-Post, 29 August 1970
- ^ "No. 36866". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 1945. p. 27.
- ^ Fielding, Steven. “‘Don’t Know and Don’t Care’: Popular Political Attitudes in Labour’s Britain, 1945-51.” In The Attlee Years, edited by Nick Tiratsoo. London: Continuum International Publishing, 1991, p. 115
- ^ "No. 42651". The London Gazette. 17 April 1962. p. 3185.
- ^ Chris Cook et al, The Longman guide to sources in contemporary British history: Volume 2, p.132
- ^ Dod's Parliamentary Companion, Vol.137, p.108
- ^ Angell, Sir Norman (15 March 1957). "Press Review". Times Literary Supplement. p. 162.
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