Christopher Mark Williams FLSW FRHS (9 March 1963 – 4 April 2024) was a Welsh academic and historian, best known for his work on editing the diaries of Richard Burton. He served as Head of the College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences, and Professor of History at University College Cork (UCC), Ireland, from 2017 until his death.
Career
Williams earned a first-class degree in modern history from Balliol College, Oxford, in 1985, and later obtained his doctorate from Cardiff University. He began his academic career as a lecturer at Cardiff University, subsequently moving to the University of Glamorgan. In 2005, he became Professor of Welsh History and Director of the Research Institute for Arts and Humanities at Swansea University. He was a Royal Commissioner with the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales and served as Chairman of the Welsh Heritage Schools Initiative. In 2013, he returned to Cardiff University before being appointed Head of the College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences at UCC in 2017.
In 2016, Williams was elected a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales.
Research
Williams' research focused on the social, political, and labour history of Wales, particularly the South Wales Coalfield and radical traditions from the nineteenth to twentieth centuries. He is best known for editing The Richard Burton Diaries, published by Yale University Press in 2012. The diaries were donated to Swansea University by Burton's widow, Sally Burton, in 2006. He also wrote extensively on the history of political cartoons and caricature in Britain from the 18th century to the Second World War, and authored Democratic Rhondda: Politics and Society, 1855–1951.
Selected Works
- B. L. Coombes (Writers of Wales series) (with William D. Jones; 1999)
- With Dust Still in His Throat: A B. L. Coombes Anthology (with Bill Jones; 1999)
- Postcolonial Wales (ed., with Jane Aaron; 2005)
- Robert Owen and his Legacy (ed., with Noel Thompson; 2011)
- The Richard Burton Diaries (ed.; 2012)
- The Gwent County History, vol. 4 (ed., with Sian Rhiannon Williams; 2011)
- The Gwent County History, vol. 5 (ed., with Andy Croll; 2013)
Personal Life
Williams was born in Griffithstown, Monmouthshire, Wales, to Peter and Josephine Williams. He spent his early childhood in Newport before his family moved to Swindon, where he completed his O-Levels and A-Levels. He spent a year in the army before attending the University of Oxford. An avid walker and mountaineer, he climbed La Breche De Rolland in the French Pyrenees, Ben Nevis, Snowdon, and Pen-y-Fan. He died from a heart attack on 4 April 2024 at the age of 61.
