Elwyn Jones, Baron Elwyn-Jones Explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Right Honourable
The Lord Elwyn-Jones
Office:Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain
Primeminister:Harold Wilson
James Callaghan
Term Start:4 March 1974
Term End:4 May 1979
Predecessor:The Lord Hailsham of St Marylebone
Successor:The Lord Hailsham of St Marylebone
Office1:Shadow Lord Chancellor
Leader1:Neil Kinnock
Term Start1:2 October 1983
Term End1:9 January 1989
Predecessor1:Position established
Successor1:The Lord Mishcon
Office2:Attorney-General for England
Primeminister2:Harold Wilson
Term Start2:16 October 1964
Term End2:19 June 1970
Predecessor2:John Hobson
Successor2:Peter Rawlinson
Office3:Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Term Start3:11 March 1974
Term End3:4 December 1989
Life peerage
Office4:Member of Parliament
for Newham South

Term Start4:5 July 1945
Term End4:11 March 1974
Predecessor4:Will Thorne
Successor4:Nigel Spearing
Birth Name:Frederick Elwyn Jones
Birth Date:24 October 1909
Birth Place:Llanelli, Wales
Death Place:Brighton, England
Party:Labour
Children:3 (including Dan)
Alma Mater:University of Wales, Aberystwyth
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
City Law School

Frederick Elwyn Elwyn-Jones, Baron Elwyn-Jones, (24 October 1909 – 4 December 1989), commonly known as Elwyn Jones, was a Welsh barrister and Labour politician.

Background and education

Elwyn Jones was born in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, and read history for a year at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, and then at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. He spent time in Germany in the 1930s.

An acting bombardier in the Royal Artillery (Territorial Army), he was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 23 December 1939. He ended his service as a major.

Legal career

Jones became a barrister and Recorder of Merthyr Tydfil. He was also a broadcaster and journalist. He served as junior British Counsel during the Nuremberg Trials,[1] and led for the prosecution (Leading Prosecutor) at the Hamburg trial of Marshal Erich von Manstein in 1948. He was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1953.

In 1966, he led the prosecution of the Moors murderers, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley.

Political career

At the 1945 general election, he was elected as Labour Member of Parliament for Plaistow, east London. In 1950, he became MP for West Ham South, serving until 1974. In 1964, Elwyn Jones was sworn of the Privy Council and appointed Attorney General (receiving the customary knighthood) by Harold Wilson, a post he held until 1970.

In February 1974, he was once again elected to Parliament, now for Newham South, but left the House of Commons soon afterwards when he was made a life peer. On 11 March, he was created Baron Elwyn-Jones, of Llanelli in the County of Carmarthen and of Newham in Greater London, with a change of his surname to Elwyn-Jones. The resulting by-election allowed Nigel Spearing to re-enter Parliament as he had lost the Acton seat in the February election. He served as Lord Chancellor from 1974 to 1979, under Harold Wilson and James Callaghan. In 1976 he was made a Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour.

Personal life

In 1937, Jones married Pearl "Polly" Binder, an artist from Manchester. The couple had three children: Josephine, Lou and Dan. Josephine became a researcher on Jacob Bronowski's TV series The Ascent of Man and married Francis Gladstone (a great-grandson of Prime Minister William Gladstone).[2] Dan Jones is an artist, collector of children's playground songs and human rights campaigner.

Elwyn-Jones's brother Idris (1900–1971) was captain of the Wales rugby union team in 1925, and was an industrial chemist who became Director General of Research Development for the National Coal Board.[3] [4]

Elwyn-Jones died in December 1989, aged 80.[5]

Arms

Escutcheon:Per saltire Gules and barry wavy Argent and Azure two crane arms in saltire the hooks pendant between in chief a portcullis chained and in base a balance Or.
Crest:Out of a mural crown Or between two dragon's wings Gules from a panache an (eagle's?) claw holding two hammers in saltire Or.
Supporters:Dexter: a man proper vested Azure the trousers Brunatre wearing an apron and a scarf Argent holding in the dexter hand blacksmiths' pliers Proper; sinister a woman Proper vested Azure and Argent holding on the sinister arm a basket of potatoes and leeks Proper.
Motto:GWNA DY ORAU
Torse:Or and Gules.
Mantling:Gules and Vert doubled Or and Argent.
Notes:Displayed at the House of Lords.[6]

Further reading

External links

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Notes and References

  1. Book: The Trial of German War Criminals, Part I. vii. 1946. His Majesty's Stationery Office.
  2. Book: Elwyn-Jones, Frederick Elwyn-Jones, Baron, 1909–1989.. In my time : an autobiography. 1983. Weidenfeld and Nicolson. 0-297-78159-6. London. 10265408.
  3. Web site: James. Mary Auronwy. JONES, WALTER IDRIS (1900–1971). Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. 20 November 2014.
  4. News: Wales' rugby captains. 26 October 2010 . BBC. 20 November 2014.
  5. Book: Charles Roger Dod. Robert Phipps Dod. Dod's Parliamentary Companion. 1990. Dod's Parliamentary Companion, Limited. 348. 9780905702162.
  6. Web site: Lord Chancellors, printed paper office corridor (6). Baz Manning . 28 January 2021 . 11 April 2011 .