Williams Ronald Ralph

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Biografie:
The Right Reverend Ronald Ralph Williams, 0.0., LL.D. (1906-1979)
The death of R. R. Williams, known to us a the Bishop of Leicester, on 13 February 1979 came as a great shock to his many friends in the Swiss Alpine Club and the Alpine Club.
Beneath his friendly and benign appearance there existed a personality of immense dedication to his chosen profession and of equally intense interest in the Arts, Music, Poetry and Sport.
He was educated at Judd School, Tonbridge, and afterwards at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and Ridley Hall. He served as Head of the Religious Division of the Ministry of Information during the Second World War after which he was elected Principal of St John's College, Durham, and became the Bishop of Leicester in 1953. Eventually he took his eat as one of 20 bishops in the House of Lord in 1959. He was appointed Assistant Bishop of London in 1979 but his death in February prevented him from taking up his duties in this capacity.
He served on many Commissions for the Church of England both at home and abroad and was a valued and respected member of every board on which he served. Being a self-confessed traditionalist, he was known in clerical circles as “Leicester Square” but he was also acknowledged as a scholar of distinction, having a considerable number of erudite publications to his credit. In debate, his tone of voice, his smile and his understanding of the secular world gave his speeches the telling charm of gentle persuasiveness.
His love of sport -which included cricket, golf, riding, squash and tennis- led him to an interest in mountaineering which he and his wife enjoyed in the company of the Zermatt guide Bernard Biner. He was elected to the ABMSAC in 1947 and to the Alpine Club in 1958.
During any leisure time he managed to arrange during his official missions abroad, he took the opportunity to climb in the hills, whether it might be in California or the Middle East. He also knew the mountains in the Engadine and the Chamonix area but his heart' was surely captured by the Valais Canton of Switzerland. This was the most enchanting district in which he could mix business with pleasure as he was Summer Chaplain of the English Church in Zermatt from 1946 until 1978. His pastorship, consequently, included the Alpine Club Centenary Meet in 1957 and the Matterhorn Centenary Celebration in 1965.
It was his welcome duty in 1970 to officiate at the Thank giving Service at the Centenary of the English Church in Zermatt. On that day, the quiet unobtrusive little church was filled to overflowing and the occasion must have given him a profound feeling of humble satisfaction.
He was a good man, a good friend and he will be sadly missed by his many friends in the Alpine Club.
H. N. Fox
Quelle: Alpine Journal Volume 85, 1980, Seite 268


Geboren am:
1906
Gestorben am:
13.02.1979