Francis Williams

Edward Francis Williams, Baron Francis-Williams CBE, known as Frank Williams, was a British newspaper editor, political advisor and author. Born in St Martin's, Shropshire, Williams studied at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Middleton, before entering journalism. 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. In 1936, he accepted the editorship of the Daily Herald, serving until 1940. 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. 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. 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. 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. He wrote several books, including a biography of Ernest Bevin, and he co-authored Clement Attlee's autobiography. For 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.