David Williams Obituary

We’re very saddened to share the news of the passing of David Williams, one of the Museum’s valued trustees.

David had a passionate interest in naval history, particularly that of Horatio Nelson, ever since he was a small boy. During his life, he wrote many articles for major publications and was commissioned to design Royal Worcester porcelain and Dartington crystal for the 200th anniversary celebrations of Trafalgar in 2005.

After five years at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich working to secure corporate sponsorship, he spent 16 years as Sponsorship Manager for the Royal Armouries at the Tower of London. Between 2017 and 2019, David was commissioned to research and catalogue what is probably the largest and most valuable private collection of Nelson treasures, consisting of over 1,900 artefacts and he sat in court as a Magistrate at Uxbridge for 29 years and was also a School Governor at the Aldgate School in London.

David has been a member of the board of trustees for National Maritime Museum Cornwall since September 2020. He joined at a particularly tricky time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however his support and welcome humour helped navigate the organisation through this challenging time, whilst keeping our spirits high. Since then, his genuine warmth, deep passion for the Museum and his extensive maritime knowledge has steered us through to calmer waters. We will miss him dearly.

Our thoughts are with David’s family at this sad time.

David Williams.