WILLIAMS, Sir John Fischer, 1870-1947, international lawyer

Papers of and relating to Sir John Fischer Williams, 1913-1923, notably originals, copies and transcripts of correspondence with Leonard Henry and Catherine Courtney, 1st Baron and Baroness Courtney of Penwith, mainly relating to Williams' role as British Legal Representative on the Reparations Commission in Paris, and the negotiations between France, Germany and Great Britain; a typescript by David Francis Hubbock based on the Williams correspondence entitled 'Letters from Paris: Reparations and the Ruhr crisis of 1923', [1947-1990]; a photocopy of diary notes kept by Williams on the Reparations Commission, 1920; photocopy of notes on Lord Courtney by (Martha) Beatrice Webb, 1918; copies of photographs of Lady Courtney and the Legal Committee of the Reparations Commission, taken at the Hotel Astoria in Paris, 1920s; a list of publications by Williams.

Born 1870; educated Harrow and New College, Oxford University; Fellow, New College, 1892-1899; Arnold Essay Prize, 1893; called to Bar, Lincoln's Inn, 1894; practised until the War at the Chancery Bar; Liberal Candidate for Oxford City, December 1910; CBE, 1917; Assistant Legal Adviser, Home Office, 1918-1920; British Legal Representative on the Reparation Commission under the Treaty of Versailles, 1920-1930; KC, 1920; Kt, 1923; Chairman, Royal Commission on Tithe Rent Charge, 1934; British Member of Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague, 1936-[1947]; Governor, Fisheries Organisation Society; Member, Institute of International Law; died 1947.
Publications: Aspects of Modern International Law (Oxford University Press, London, 1939); Chapters on Current International Law and the League of Nations (Longmans & Co, London, 1929); Harrow (1901); International Change and International Peace (Oxford University Press, London, 1932); International Law and International Financial Obligations arising from Contract (1924); International Law and the Property of Aliens; Life Insurance of the Poor (P. S. King & Son, London, 1912); Proportional Representation and British Politics (John Murray, London, 1914); Some Aspects of the Covenant of the League of Nations (Oxford University Press, London, 1934); The Geneva Protocol of 1924 (G. Allen & Unwin, London, 1924); The Reform of Political Representation (John Murray, London, 1918).

Arranged [by David Hubback] in sections as noted in the Scope and Content.

Open.

On-line catalogue available.

Sources: British Library of Political and Economic Science catalogue; Who's Who 1897-1996 (A & C Black, 1996); British Library On-Line Public Access Catalogue 97; Historical Manuscripts Commission National Register of Archives. Compiled by Sarah Aitchison as part of the RSLP AIM25 project.

The Bodleian Library, Oxford University, holds papers, 1920-1928, and correspondence with George Gilbert Aime Murray, 1914-1943 (Ref: MSS Gilbert Murray); the National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh, has correspondence with John George Bartholomew (Ref: 8357 9020 NRA(S)0269); King's College Modern Archives Centre, University of Cambridge, contains correspondence with Arthur Elliott Felkin, 1923-1937 (Ref: AEF); the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh, holds correspondence with Philip Henry Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian, 1934-1937 (Ref: GD40); and the John Rylands University Library of Manchester holds letters to the Manchester Guardian, 1914-1932 (Ref: Guardian Archives).

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Given by Mrs David Hubback in 1992.

The BLPES holds further material relating to Sir John Fischer Williams in the papers of Leonard Henry Courtney, 1st Baron Courtney of Penwith (Ref: Courtney/C/14/69, 8/116-117, 9/83, 10/82, and 13/196).