Thomas Leighton Williams

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Thomas Cuthbert Leighton Williams (1877-1946) was a Roman Catholic archbishop of Birmingham, England.

He was born on 20 March 1877 in Handsworth, the eldest of the nine children of James Anthony Williams (1844-1928), a Commercial Traveller, and his wife, Emma Mary (1846-1898), the daughter of Thomas Patrick Leighton and his wife, Mary Anne Agnes (Green). He was educated at St Wilfrid's College, Cotton, Staffs (1887-1893), before entering the diocesan seminary, St Mary's College, Oscott, Birmingham, on 7 September 1893. Ordained in St Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham on 24 August

1900, he was sent immediately to read history at Christ's College, Cambridge. After graduation in 1903, he returned to teach at Cotton but was dismissed after only a term by the new President, Fr Edward Hymers, who was stung by Williams's forthright criticisms. A year's curacy in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent was followed by three years on the teaching staff of St Edmund's College, Old Hall, Ware, Herts, where he also served as Prefect of Discipline and helped Canon Edwin Burton to edit two volumes of the Douai Diaries (Catholic Record Society, vols. 10& 11(1911)].

In 1909 Cardinal Bourne appointed Williams to be Master of St Edmund's House, Cambridge. Remaining in Cambridge, be became a Chaplain to the Forces in 1916, engaged in hospital work, before being posted abroad with the Rhine Army at the beginning of 1918. He was demobilised in 1920 and became Principal of St Charles's House, Oxford, a house of residence for priests studying at the university. Two years' later he succeeded Hymers as President of Cotton College. Although not all his radical changes were popular, he won the confidence of staff and pupils alike by his fairness and concern for their welfare and he was able to turn around the ailing fortunes of the school, so that in his seven-year tenure as headmaster he witnessed great improvements in the buildings, academic and sporting standards, and an increase in the number of boys in the school.

An iron will, the ability to tackle difficult problems, the determination to fight his corner and a relentless energy, combined with an attention to detail that gained him a reputation for omniscience among the boys, were the qualities that ensured his success as a headmaster and as an archbishop. His surprise nomination by the Pope as third archbishop of Birmingham was made on 27 June 1929 and he was consecrated in St Chad's Cathedral on 25 July by Cardinal Bourne.

His task was not an easy one; the poor health of both his predecessors meant that the affairs of the diocese had been neglected. With his well-honed administrative skills, Williams tackled these and other problems apace and brought new life and order into the diocese, and his pontificate saw the establishment of many new schools, churches, parishes, convents and other institutions. In all his endeavours, he had a clear vision of what was involved in his episcopal motto, Adveniat Regnum Tuum' ('Your kingdom come'), which he sought to fulfil.

In his first Advent Pastoral Letter, Williams set out many of the recurring priorities of his pontificate: the importance of family, an educated laity, personal freedom and social justice. Although fiercely anti-communist, Williams equally believed that God 'is ignored in the political, social and economic life of this country (Advent Pastoral 1932). He was a savage critic of the economic slavery which he believed was the product of unrestrained capitalism and created the modern industrial conditions which made family and individual moral life difficult to sustain. He was keen to promote Christian principles and the social teaching of the Church, urging Catholics to play 'an active part in the social, civic, and political activities going on around them, in trade unions and associations of all sorts, in co-operative societies, in local and municipal and national government' (Advent Pastoral 1945), believing that 'through an apostolic laity the Church can exercise an influence on the world' (Advent Pastoral 1938). In this way, he sought 'to arrest the decay which we feel to be spreading around us' (Advent Pastoral 1933) and contribute to the regeneration of society which he believed was necessary, especially in the wake of the danger to Christian civilization posed by the evils that led to the Second World War. Williams promoted his ideas through his pastoral letters, sermons and broadcasts, as well from 1937 onwards through his active presidency of the Catholic Social Guild. The importance he attached to education led him to play a leading role in the discussions and negotiations surrounding the legislation that resulted in the 1944 Education Act, and he took steps to prepare for, and be involved in, the work of post-war reconstruction.

For most of his pontificate, Williams suffered from worsening arthritis, which left him in pain and greatly restricted his movements in the later years, but his death came from complications associated with a chronic gastric ulcer and a recent prostatectomy. He died in Queen Elizabeth's Hospital, Birmingham on 1 April 1946 and was buried in St Chad's Cathedral on 5 April. Described as possessing 'a vigorous, manly frame, firm mouth, bushy eyebrows, penetrating gaze, and clear, deliberate articulation of speech', Williams could present 'an almost granite surface to persuasion, yet he was a good listener, and always open to the opinions of others, provided only that they were definite' (Birmingham Catholic Directory 1947). He was a leader who valued competence and good workmanship in others; characteristics which he epitomised.