Griffith Vaughan Williams

Griff Vaughan Williams

Griffith Vaughan Williams (1940–2010) was a leading member of CHE for many years, and latterly its Secretary.

Griff was born on the 9th of November 1940 in Bangor, North Wales, and was educated at a local grammar school and then at the Welsh College of Advanced Technology in Cardiff. He studied the Chartered Institute of Secretaries course and got involved in producing the college newspaper 'Impact'. From 1962 he worked for a number of magazines and provincial newspapers around the country, including the Sunderland Echo and The Northern Echo in Darlington. Later he worked in the press office at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, which he left to become a freelance journalist. After retirement he threw himself into many voluntary causes, serving on committees, attending conferences, and forever asking questions at company meetings.

Griff had been a gay activist since about 1964, and was a leading member of CHE from its very earliest days. He served for a number of years as CHE's conference organiser, and led a campaign against Scarborough council which had refused to host a CHE conference.

In recent years, despite ill-health, he had continued to be the driving force behind many of CHE’s activities. His final act as Secretary was to sign the contract with Peter Scott-Presland commissioning a new book about the history of CHE, a history which he had very much helped to make.

External links

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2010/11/17/campaign-for-homosexual-equality-secretary-griffith-vaughan-williams-dies/ Pink News article.

References

This article partly based with permission on the CHE web page: http://www.c-h-e.org.uk/griff-vw.htm <references>