British politician (1909–1989)
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.
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.
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,[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 Member of the Order of the Companions 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]
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