Edward John Williams, generally known as Ted Williams (1890 – 16 May 1963) was a British Labour Party

Labour Party (UK)

The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

 politician and diplomat.

After elementary school he went into the mines aged 12. Keen to educate himself, he rose to become secretary to a colliery company and in 1913 entered the Labour College in London as a student. After three years Williams was appointed a provincial lecturer for the college, though the war

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 disrupted the college and left him unemployed. Forced to return to mining in 1917, he became checkweigher and in 1919 miners' agent to the Garw district of the South Wales Miners' Federation

South Wales Miners' Federation

The South Wales Miners' Federation , nicknamed "The Fed", was a trade union for miners in South Wales.The union was founded on 24 October 1898, following the defeat of the South Wales miners' strike of 1898...

.

He was elected as Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 (MP) for Ogmore

Ogmore (UK Parliament constituency)

Ogmore is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Boundaries :Taking its name from the River Ogmore, the constituency is situated close to the source of the river in the Ogwr valley and excludes the village of Ogmore-by-Sea, which is the...

 at a by-election in May 1931, and represented the constituency until 1946. From 1946 to 1952 he served as High Commissioner to Australia.