Saint Cledwyn

Cledwyn Hughes, Baron Cledwyn of Penrhos, CH, PC (14 September 1916 – 22 February 2001) was a Welsh Labour Party politician, usually associated with the moderate wing of the party. He was also regarded, particularly in later years, as a non-political figure of stature in Wales having held posts of importance in bodies such as the University of Wales. Cledwyn Hughes was born at 13 Plashyfryd Terrace, Holyhead, the elder son of Henry David Hughes and Emma Davies (née Hughes), who was a young widow with a son, Emlyn, when she remarried in 1915. His father, widely known as Harri Hughes, had left school at the age of twelve to work in the Dinorwic quarry, as several generations of his family had done. Aged 21, he resumed his education and entered the Calvinistic Methodist ministry, serving as the minister of Disgwylfa Chapel in Holyhead from 1915 until his death in 1947. Harri Hughes was a prominent local Liberal and a strong supporter of Lady Megan Lloyd George, who served as the Liberal MP for Anglesey from 1929. Cledwyn Hughes was educated at the Holyhead Grammar School and at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, where he studied Law and became president of the Liberal Society. After graduating in 1937, he returned to Holyhead, and was articled to a local solicitor. As local unemployment deepened, and the Czechoslovak crisis intensified, he listened to local Independent Labour Party speakers, and joined the Labour party in 1938. His decision was also driven by the influence of the writings of R.H. Tawney and the Left Book Club. Like Tawney, he was a Christian socialist, and believed that socialism equated with fellowship. For many years, he regularly preached on Sundays in Anglesey's chapels, even when serving as a cabinet minister. Hughes qualified as a solicitor in 1940. During the Second World War, Hughes served in the RAFVR in an administrative role, achieving the rank of Flight Lieutenant.