Williams was educated at
Hawtreys prep school, then
Harrow School and served as a soldier. He was, from the 1950s until his retirement in 1980, the voice of
show jumping on
British television, succeeded by
Raymond Brooks-Ward who broadcast with Williams from 1956. He was largely responsible for making it into a mainstream TV sport that was enjoyed by millions throughout the 1970s and continues to be enjoyed. His final broadcast as a full-time commentator was at the Olympia Horse Show in December 1980, although he continued to commentate on pre-recorded (filmed) coverage of dressage once a year until 1984. In addition to his TV work he was also an author, writing the Wendy series which were aimed at children and could be termed "traditional pony books". He also wrote two adult horse novels and several works of non fiction concerning show jumping and equestrianism in general. He was Chairman of the
British Horse Society, and instrumental in setting up a
National Equestrian Centre at
Stoneleigh Abbey in Warwickshire. He was also Master of the Whaddon Chase hunt. He was appointed OBE in the
1978 New Year Honours. In 1949 he founded the
Pendley Open Air Shakespeare Festival in the grounds of his ancestral family home of
Pendley Manor near
Tring, Hertfordshire. He married twice: • 1. The Hon. Moyra Lubbock 1938 (marriage dissolved 1949) • 2. Jennifer (one daughter Carola and one son Piers) He died from pancreatic cancer in July 1985 following an earlier cancer operation in 1973. In 2005, he was one of the inaugural laureates appointed to
The British Horse Society Equestrian Hall of Fame. ==References==