Orlo Williams

Dr Orlando Cyprian Williams CB, MC (1883–1967), known affectionately as Orlo, was a man of diverse talents and interests. He was born in Paddington, London, to Thomas Cyprian Williams and Helen Rosalind Campbell. He attended Eton College as a King’s Scholar and excelled in humanities and languages at Balliol College, Oxford, gaining proficiency in Latin, Greek, German, French, and Italian. He later earned a Doctor of Civil Law from Oxford in 1946.

Orlo began his professional life as a clerk in the House of Commons in 1907, commencing what would become a four-decade career in civil service, interrupted only by his military service during the First World War. In 1915, he enlisted and was appointed cipher officer for the General Headquarters of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, where he was responsible for encoding and decoding sensitive messages between London and Gallipoli. He later served in Egypt and Palestine with the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, returning to the War Office in London in 1918 as a GSO2 in the Directorate of Staff Duties. For his wartime service, Orlo was awarded the Military Cross, several campaign medals, and was mentioned in dispatches four times.

After the war, Orlo returned to the House of Commons, where he worked until his retirement in 1948, eventually serving as Principal Clerk in the Committee and Private Bill Office. He was invested as a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1941 and also served as a lieutenant in the Home Guard's Palace of Westminster Detachment during the Second World War.

A prolific writer, Orlo authored or translated 17 books between 1908 and 1954, covering diverse subjects including literary criticism, parliamentary procedure, history, and children’s literature. His publications included translations from Italian, academic works on the House of Commons, and literary criticism. He was also a regular essayist and critic whose work appeared in numerous prestigious publications including Blackwood’s, The Times, and the Times Literary Supplement. His wartime diary, previously unpublished, provides valuable firsthand insights into the Gallipoli Campaign from his unique position within GHQ.

Orlo married Alice Isabella Pollock in 1912, and they had one daughter.

When Orlo passed away in London on 10 March 1967, he was remembered as a vivacious and accomplished individual who retained until the end ‘an unquenchable zest for living a full life.’

A more complete biography of Orlo Williams is found in the Introduction to Inside GHQ.