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Auction: 22003 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 449

A 1954 Commander of the Order of St John group of four awarded to Commander G. P. Williams, Priory of Wales

The Most Venerable Order of St John, Commander's neck Badge, silver and enamel; Defence Medal 1939-45; Jubilee 1977; Service Medal of the Order of St John (47176 Commr. G. P. Williams. P. For W S.J.A.B. 1949), mounted as worn, very fine (4)

St John Serving Brother London Gazette 21 June 1940.

St John Officer London Gazette 8 July 1947.

St John Commander London Gazette 25 June 1954.

Perhaps the best biography of Graham Power Williams was offered in the British Medical Journal following his passing in 1985:

'Dr G. P. Williams, formerly a general practitioner in Holyhead, died on 29 August in the Stanley Sailor's Hospital, with which he had been associated for over 40 years. Graham Power Williams was born in 1901 in South Wales-the elder son of a general practitioner in Port Talbot.

He studied medicine at the University of Wales Medical School, Cardiff, graduating in 1927. While at university he played soccer and cricket and boxed as a light heavyweight. He used to delight in recounting how he was "mercilessly pummelled" by a sparring partner, who turned out to be the "peerless" Jim Driscoll. After house appointments at Cardiff Royal Infirmary he became a young medical superintendent at a sanatorium in Stoke on Trent.

From Stoke Graham set up practice in Holyhead in 1933 in partnership with his wife, Patricia. Dr Pat retired in 1968, and Graham continued in practice until he retired in 1974. Dr Williams's gift for oratory in public and in committee, combined with an imposing physical presence, saw him serve with distinction and effect on numerous local, Welsh, and London based committees.

He travelled almost weekly to London to attend the Medical Practices Committee and was a member of the Group Practice Loans Committee; a Welsh representative on the General Medical Services Committee; a member of the Cameron Fund; life president of the Welsh Association of Local Medical Committees; the first chairman of Gwyned Local Medical Committee in 1974. He was a fellow of the BMA and a commander of the Order of St John. Graham's love and concern for family practice was sincere and his vision for its future was clear and accurate. Obstetrics was always a satisfying art for him-I well remember the long hours that we had in 1968 with locked twins in the local general practice maternity unit and the relief at salvaging a healthy second twin. Although latterly physically immobile, his lucidity of thought for all national and medical topics was quite remarkable. He is survived by his widow, Dr Pat, and his younger brother, Charles, a retired doctor in Port Talbot.'



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Sold for
£260

Starting price
£220