Parker Williams was a Welsh

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

-born coal miner and political figure in British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

. He represented Newcastle

Newcastle (electoral district)

Newcastle was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia to the south and including some of the city of Nanaimo. It appeared in the 1916 and 1920 elections only. In 1924, portions of it were incorporated into the new Cowichan-Newcastle riding...

 in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia

The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia is one of two components of the Parliament of British Columbia, the provincial parliament ....

 from 1903 to 1918 as a Socialist

Socialist Party of Canada

There have been two different but related political parties in Canada that called themselves the Socialist Party of Canada . The current Socialist Party is an electorally inactive and unregistered federal political party in Canada...

 and later as an independent Socialist.

He worked as a coal miner in Wales, Alberta

Alberta

Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...

 and Washington state. Williams also worked on railways in Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

 and British Columbia. In 1891, he married Eleanor Price. Williams lived in Nanaimo

Nanaimo, British Columbia

Nanaimo is a city on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. It has been dubbed the "Bathtub Racing Capital of the World" and "Harbour City". Nanaimo is also sometimes referred to as the "Hub City" because of its central location on Vancouver Island and due to the layout of the downtown...

. In 1917, he resigned his seat in the assembly after he was named a commissioner for the Worker's Compensation Board

WorkSafeBC

WorkSafeBC is the operating name of the Workers' Compensation Board of British Columbia, a statutory agency created by an act of the provincial legislature in 1917. WorkSafeBC is the exclusive workers' compensation insurer in British Columbia, Canada, covering more than 200,000 registered...

 and he served in that function until he retired in April 1943. He also was responsible for administering the Mothers Pension Act and the Old Age Pension Act. Williams died at the age of 85 on his farm near Ladysmith

Ladysmith, British Columbia

Ladysmith is a town located on the 49th parallel on the east coast of Vancouver Island British Columbia, Canada. The local economy is based on forestry, tourism and agriculture. A hillside location adjacent to a sheltered harbour form the natural characteristics of the community., the population...

.