Books by Gareth Williams

Alfred Williams (1877-1930) left school at 11 and worked as a farm labourer, then spent 23 years as a worker in the Great Western Railways factory in Swindon. At the same time he was determined to educate himself and in 1900 he started a four-year English Literature course in Ruskin Hall, Oxford, teaching himself Latin, Greek and French at the same time. His first publication was Songs in Wiltshire, produced in 1909, and his most influential work, Life in a Railway Factory, was published in 1914 to critical acclaim. Despite ill health he was able to join up during the First World War as a gunner for the Royal Field Artillery and he also served in India. He continued to publish until his death in 1930.