Sir Ralph Champneys Williams CMG
Governor of Newfoundland
In office 1909–1913
Monarchs	Edward VII George V
Preceded by	Sir William MacGregor
Succeeded by	Sir Walter Edward Davidson
Governor of the Windward Islands
In office 1906–1909
Monarch	Edward VII
Preceded by	Sir Robert Baxter Llewelyn
Succeeded by	Sir James Hayes Sadler
Resident Commissioner in Bechuanaland
In office January 1901 – 1906
Monarchs	Victoria Edward VII
Governor	The Lord Milner The Earl of Selborne
Preceded by	Sir Hamilton Goold-Adams
Succeeded by	Francis William Panzera
Personal details
Born	9 March 1848 Holyhead, Anglesey United Kingdom
Died	22 June 1927(1927-06-22) (aged 79) London, United Kingdom

Sir Ralph Champneys Williams CMG (9 March 1848 – 22 June 1927)^[1] was a British colonial governor.

Life and career[edit]

Williams was educated at The King's School, Chester, and at Rossall School. He joined the colonial service in 1884 and his first post was to Bechuanaland. He then served at Pretoria, South Africa, Gibraltar and Barbados, for which he was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 1901 New Year Honours List.^[2] In early 1901 he returned to Bechuanaland as Resident Commissioner at the height of the Second Boer War.^[3] Williams was governor of the Windward Islands prior to his appointment as governor of Newfoundland in 1909.

While governor of Newfoundland Williams travelled throughout the island and the coast of Labrador. He was opposed to confederation with Canada and desired to maintain Newfoundland's individuality and hold fast Britain's last tie to North America. In 1913 he published his memoirs, How I Became a Governor.

Legacy[edit]

Two Newfoundland towns were renamed for him: Salmon Cove, Trinity Bay, became Champneys, and Greenspond, White Bay, became Williamsport.

See also[edit]

• Governors of Newfoundland
• List of commissioners of Bechuanaland
• Colonial Heads of the Windward Islands
• List of communities in Newfoundland and Labrador
• List of people of Newfoundland and Labrador

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Biography at Government House The Governorship of Newfoundland and Labrador
• Neil Parsons, "The Williams Regime in the Bechuanaland Protectorate 1901–1906" at University of Botswana History Department site.