David Williamson, Baron Williamson of Horton

The Lord Williamson of Horton
The Right Honourable; The Lord Williamson of Horton; GCMG CB PC
	Williamson in 2013
Convener of the Crossbench Peers
	In office; 2004–2007
Preceded by	The Lord Craig of Radley
Succeeded by	The Baroness D'Souza
Member of the House of Lords; Lord Temporal
	In office; 5 February 1999 – 30 August 2015; Life Peerage
Personal details
Born	8 May 1934
Died	30 August 2015
Spouse(s)	Patricia Smith (m. 1961)
Children	2
Alma mater	Exeter College, Oxford

David Francis Williamson, Baron Williamson of Horton GCMG CB PC (8 May 1934 – 30 August 2015) was a senior British and European civil servant, as well as a member of the House of Lords.

Education and early life

Williamson was educated at Tonbridge School and Exeter College, Oxford. He served in the Royal Signals 1956-58 as his national service. He married Patricia Smith in 1961; they had two sons.

Civil service career

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

He began his civil service career in 1958 at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, becoming Principal Private Secretary to the minister in 1967.

European Commission

He was Deputy Director-General for Agriculture in the European Commission from 1977 to 1983 and Secretary-General of the European Commission from 1987 to 1997. From 1983 until 1987, Williamson had returned to the United Kingdom to serve as Deputy Secretary and head the European Secretariat in the Cabinet Office.

House of Lords

After leaving Brussels, Williamson was created a Life Peer on 5 February 1999 with the title Baron Williamson of Horton, of Horton in the County of Somerset,[1] and sat as a crossbencher in the House of Lords. Lord Williamson of Horton was the convenor of the crossbenchers, a task that involves keeping the other non-aligned members up-to-date with the business of the House.

Honours

As well as being appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in 1984[2] and a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) in 1998,[3] Williamson was awarded the Knight Commander's Cross of the Bundesverdienstkreuz by Germany, the Commander Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Polar Star by Sweden and made Commander of the Légion d'honneur by France. He was also sworn of the Privy Council in April 2007.

gollark: I don't think most stuff will have a C compiler either.

gollark: A Python interpreter exists on most modern systems which aren't bad like Windows, and there are tons of implementations.

gollark: SIMD™!

gollark: Well, I suppose you could tcc.

gollark: Retroactively erase knowledge of it, why?

References

"No. 55401". The London Gazette. 11 February 1999. p. 1627.
"No. 49768". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 June 1984. p. 3.
"No. 55155". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 June 1998. p. 3.

Basic biography from EU press release on retirement in 1997
Additional information from DOD online

External links

Announcement of his introduction at the House of Lords House of Lords Minute of Proceedings, 17 February 1999
Obituary, Politico, 1 September 2015

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by The Lord Craig	Convenor of the Crossbench Peers 2004–2007	Succeeded by Baroness D'Souza

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[1] "No. 55401". The London Gazette. 11 February 1999. p. 1627.

[2] "No. 49768". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 June 1984. p. 3.

[3] "No. 55155". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 June 1998. p. 3.