Richard Williams (alias Cromwell)
Sir Richard Williams ( – 20 October 1544), also known as Sir Richard Cromwell, was a Welsh soldier and courtier in the reign of Henry VIII who knighted him on 2 May 1540. He was a maternal nephew of Thomas Cromwell, profiting from the Dissolution of the Monasteries in which he took an active part. He was the patrilineal great-grandfather of Oliver Cromwell. Early life Richard Williams was born about 1510 in the parish of Llanishen, Glamorganshire. He was eldest son and heir to Morgan (ap William) Williams, an aspiring Welsh lawyer (and a paternal descendant of Cadwgan ap Bleddyn, prince of Powys) who moved from Glamorgan to Putney where he initially pursued his business of innkeeper and brewer. Morgan Williams' good fortune was to marry Katherine Cromwell, the sister of Thomas Cromwell, long before the commencement of the latter's illustrious career as Henry VIII's great minister. In later life, Williams and his son would benefit financially from this relationship, receiving substantial landholdings confiscated from the church. Protégé of Thomas Cromwell Richard was brought into the court of King Henry VIII by an alliance with Thomas Cromwell, the great favourite of Henry, whom that monarch raised from a humble situation