Elwyn Jones, Baron Elwyn-Jones

Frederick Elwyn Elwyn-Jones, Baron Elwyn-Jones,[1] CH, PC, QC (24 October 1909 – 4 December 1989), commonly known as Elwyn Jones, was a Welsh barrister and Labour politician.

The Right Honourable
The Lord Elwyn-Jones
CH PC QC
Elwyn-Jones in 1976
Shadow Lord Chancellor
In office
2 October 1983 – 9 January 1989
LeaderNeil Kinnock
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byThe Lord Mishcon
Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain
In office
4 March 1974 – 4 May 1979
Prime MinisterHarold Wilson
James Callaghan
Preceded byThe Lord Hailsham of St Marylebone
Succeeded byThe Lord Hailsham of St Marylebone
Attorney-General for England
In office
16 October 1964 – 19 June 1970
Prime MinisterHarold Wilson
Preceded byJohn Hobson
Succeeded byPeter Rawlinson
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
In office
11 March 1974 – 4 December 1989
Life peerage
Member of Parliament
for Newham South
(West Ham South, 1950-1974)
(Plaistow, 1945-1950)
In office
5 July 1945 – 11 March 1974
Preceded byWill Thorne
Succeeded byNigel Spearing
Personal details
Born
Frederick Elwyn Jones

(1909-10-24)24 October 1909
Llanelli, Wales
Died4 December 1989(1989-12-04) (aged 80)
Brighton, England
Political partyLabour
Spouse
​
(m. 1937)​
Children3 (including Dan)
Alma materUniversity of Wales, Aberystwyth
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
City Law School

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.[2] He ended his service as a major.

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,[3] 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.[4]

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[5]) 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.[1] 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 Companion of Honour.[6]

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).[7] 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.[8][9]

Elwyn-Jones died in December 1989, aged 80.[10]

Arms
Coat of arms of Elwyn Jones, Baron Elwyn-Jones
Notes
Displayed at the House of Lords.[11]
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.
Torse
Or and Gules.
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.
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

References
  1. "No. 46236". The London Gazette. 14 March 1974. p. 3303.
  2. "No. 34758". The London Gazette (Supplement). 22 December 1939. p. 8535.
  3. The Trial of German War Criminals, Part I. His Majesty's Stationery Office. 1946. p. vii.
  4. "No. 39827". The London Gazette. 17 April 1953. p. 2119.
  5. "No. 43498". The London Gazette. 24 November 1964. p. 10025.
  6. "No. 46916". The London Gazette. 1 June 1976. p. 7823.
  7. Elwyn-Jones, Frederick Elwyn-Jones, Baron, 1909-1989. (1983). In my time : an autobiography. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 0-297-78159-6. OCLC 10265408.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. James, Mary Auronwy. "JONES, WALTER IDRIS (1900–1971)". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  9. "Wales' rugby captains". BBC. 26 October 2010. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  10. Charles Roger Dod; Robert Phipps Dod (1990). Dod's Parliamentary Companion. Dod's Parliamentary Companion, Limited. p. 348. ISBN 9780905702162.
  11. "Lord Chancellors, printed paper office corridor (6)". Baz Manning. 11 April 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2021.

Further reading
  • The Times House of Commons 1945. 1945.
  • The Times House of Commons 1950. 1950.
  • The Times House of Commons 1955. 1955.
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