Iolo Aneurin Williams
# Iolo Aneurin Williams

Captain Iolo Aneurin Williams (18 June 1890 – 18 January 1962), was a British writer, journalist and Liberal Party politician. His son was the composer Edward Williams.

## Background

Williams was born in Middlesbrough, the son of Aneurin Williams, who was a Liberal member of parliament. He was the brother of Ursula Williams who was also a Liberal politician. He was educated at Rugby School and King's College, Cambridge. In 1920 he married Francion Elinor Dixon. They had one son and two daughters.

## Professional career

Williams was Bibliographical Correspondent of the London Mercury from 1920–1939. He made contributions to the Dictionary of National Biography and the Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature. He was a published poet and writer.

### Publications

* Poems, 1915
* New Poems, 1919
* Byways Round Helicon, 1922
* Shorter Poems of the 18th Century, 1923
* Seven 18th Century Bibliographies, 1924
* Editor: plays of Sheridan, 1926
* Elements of Book-Collecting, 1927
* Poetry To-day, 1927
* Where the Bee Sucks, 1929 (illustrated by Katharine Cameron)
* The Firm of Cadbury, 1931
* Points in 18th Century Verse, 1934
* English Folk Song and Dance, 1935
* Flowers of Marsh and Stream (King Penguin), 1946
* Early English Water-Colours, 1952

## Political career

Williams was Liberal candidate for the Chelsea division of London at the 1924 General Election. Chelsea was a safe Unionist seat, so he was not expected to win. 1924 was not a good election for the Liberals and he came in third place in the race. Despite this, he contested Chelsea again at the 1929 General Election, a better election for the Liberals. He increased the Liberal share of the vote, but still finished third. He did not stand for parliament again.

### Electoral record

General Election 1924: Chelsea :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Unionist | Rt Hon. Sir Samuel Hoare | 13,816 | 65.68 | +8.68 |
| | Labour | Dora Russell | 5,661 | 26.01 | -1.49 |
| | Liberal | Iolo Aneurin Williams | 1,557 | 7.40 | -8.11 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,155 | 38.77 | +9.27 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 29,582 | 71.10 | +7.27 |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | +5.09 | |

General Election 1929: Chelsea :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | Unionist | Rt Hon. Sir Samuel John Gurney Hoare | 15,480 | 58.4 | -7.2 |
| | Labour | Alfred George Prichard | 6,645 | 25.1 | -0.9 |
| | Liberal | Iolo Aneurin Williams | 4,360 | 16.5 | +9.1 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 8,835 | 33.4 | -5.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 41,945 | 63.1 | -8.0 |
| | Unionist hold | Unionist hold | Swing | -4.1 | |
