The True Story of a Welsh Godfather 4
How “J.O.” understood Mafias, Early Career, His “Big Break” and what went wrong
The true story of the J.O.Williams family can now be perceived in perspective. Mafias exist outside the movie theatre, they are all around us.
J.O. treated his workers, in those early days in Port Hope Simpson, Newfoundland, very poorly. It showed that mafias can have harmful effects on societies. Also, it is not only the greed of entrepreneurs which caused the emergence of mafias, but also, as we shall see, the political maneuverings of foreign governments.
The history and true facts of J.O.Williams’s activities are complex. For full details, take a look at the three-page summary in chronological order in Appendix 2 below.
The essential feature of a mafia is its firm belief that it can do more good for those who respect the mafia family, and who become a part of its extended family, than for those in society who kowtow to those in a corrupt and greedy real world that has no respect for them as individuals.
Appendix 1.
Here are five definitions of Mafias.
• An organised international body of criminals, operating originally in Sicily and now especially in Italy and the US, having a complex and ruthless behavioural code.
• Any organised group of criminals resembling the Mafia in its way of operating.
• A group regarded as exerting a hidden sinister influence.
• A hierarchical structure, a secretive organisation often involved in smuggling, racketeering, trafficking in drugs and people, protection, prostitution, and other illegal activities.
• Businessmen and politicians operating outside the law.
The following quotes give a better understanding of what a mafia is. The first is written by a Sicilian.
“It seems everybody has their personal view of what mafias are and how they developed. I am Sicilian and the study of the Mafias (we prefer plural vs one single mafia) is one of my interests as a Sicilian and as a student. Also… I’m no member of any “family” you may think of.
“The word itself has rather obscure origins, and its history and meaning are totally unrelated to the modern concept of the mafia. Modern Mafias have so many different aspects I couldn’t say if one is less accurate than others. Nowadays, the term “mafia” can, sadly, relate to almost every socio-political aspect of our lives. We could say the word itself has gained a more general and complex meaning since its migration from Sicily to other countries.
“As regards the word itself, its origin can be traced back for centuries. Sure, it had something to do with the many invasions Sicily was exposed to. Sicily had been invaded by pretty much all of the peoples in the Mediterranean Area: Greeks, Romans, Normands (French), Arabs, Spanish, and Italians. This gave the island’s culture an immense richness but, as a side effect, created among Sicilians a silent “brotherhood” against anyone coming from the outside world.
“This later degenerated into the oppression and control of those not part of the mafia family. The word Mafia had become a synonym for organised crime.
Mafia godfathers believe that their regimes can run a fairer society for people than current “democratically elected” governments and élites. The godfathers argue that those in power put their own greed and corruption above the wishes of the people who elected them. Mafias do not kowtow to those who are corrupt and greedy. They believe that their methods result in a fairer society based on respect.
Appendix 2. Background to J.O.’s rise to power and influence. 1900–2003
We describe below the complex history of J.O.’s career from junior clerk to mafia boss. Most of this is gleaned from the writings of Llewelyn Prichard, a travel writer who sold tours to tourists and who has written books on Pope Paul II and on the town of Gloucester in England. I have edited the script only to correct ambiguities and to improve readability.
Pritchard’s writing has been fact-checked as much as possible. I have changed only obvious errors based on my own personal knowledge of the family between 1954 and 1970 and have verified some facts with members of the local community who know the family closely.
John Osborn Williams (28 March 1886–6 July 1963) was the owner of the logging and pit-prop exporting business known as The Labrador Development Company Ltd based in Port Hope Simpson, Newfoundland and Labrador from 1934–1948. This became the basis for his wealth and power. With his skill in negotiating with governments, and his ruthless business methods, he was establishing his position as founder of his own mafia family.
His Early Years
Williams was born at 46 George Street, Cardiff, Wales, his parents’ home, and was the youngest son of Silas and Mary Williams. He was one of eight children and known as “Jack” within the family. He left school at age 14 in 1900 and entered the timber-exporting business. “J.O.” as he was usually known, became a commercial clerk at the age of fifteen, as did two of his brothers, Hiram and Arthur. This experience was the background for at least two other logging, trading, and shipping agency companies he set up.
In 1908, at 22 years of age, he worked for Evans and Reed, Cardiff coal exporters and importers of pit-props. In 1914, during the First World War, he worked in the Baltic area, and in August of that year, he went to Montreal, spending September to December 1914 in the Dominion of Newfoundland. In 1921 he obtained a loan from Franklin Thomas and Company of Cardiff to develop his business interests, setting up the J. O. Williams Company.
J.O. also had shares in the British and North American Trading Company but lost a great deal of money when it went bankrupt. In the future, J.O. was careful to fund his ventures with money from private investors and governments.
J.O.’s Big Break
His big break came when on board the S.S. Sylvia sailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia to St John’s, Newfoundland.
Williams discussed his ambitions with Sir John Hope Simpson, the Commissioner of Natural Resources and Acting Commissioner of Justice 1934–36, and Thomas Lodge, Commissioner of Public Utilities from 1934–1937. He won them over with his enthusiasm, optimism and experience and convinced them he was just the sort of entrepreneurial man they were looking for.
For their part, they could not believe their good luck in having met him. They viewed Williams as somebody who could help them make an impact in their new posts. Lodge described Williams to the Dominions Office in London as 1/3 visionary, 1/3 speculator and 1/3 businessman. Nevertheless, time would tell that Simpson and Lodge had made a grave error of judgment about entering into a business relationship with Williams. They believed he had deliberately misled them, and was only interested in ensuring the business would benefit the mafia family he was creating.
Not an Easy Guy to Work With
Both Simpson and Lodge would sometimes have difficulty in distancing themselves from Williams. He had manoeuvred them into positions where they had to accept how he intended running the Labrador Development Company. He was too charismatic and ruthless a businessman for them to ever have a chance of controlling him. They were both gaining financially from working with him. In that sense, they too were part of this extended mafia family. A mafia family is not solely comprised of blood relatives.
J.O. starts business in Port Hope Simpson.
In June 1934 the first party of managerial and administrative staff landed at the site on the Alexis River. Williams had hired 520 men, including southern Inuit men from nearby communities, and unemployed men from the island of Newfoundland who came on government passes to work.
Williams showed that some sort of permanent employment in addition to the cod fishery was possible in the area. Even though he brought the southern Inuit and other workers together, most Newfoundlanders did not stay for more than two or three years. It was reported that there were almost 70 families in Port Hope Simpson in 1934.
The government’s view was that Williams was helping to “develop” Newfoundland by creating jobs for those who would otherwise be unemployed. They thought he was working in the interests of the Newfoundland economy.
Things start to go wrong for J.O.
Workers were paid from $1.75 to $2.00 per cord (48 to 55-cent/m³) of pit-props, using a bucksaw for 12 hours per day. They were put on rations of mostly beans and porridge; and were forced to buy deteriorating food at high prices from the company store. Men went out hunting to obtain sufficient food for themselves and their families. Many of the non-Inuit, who had arrived with dreams of prosperity, were not accustomed to being treated in this way by Williams. They soon realised that conditions were the same as in the fishery sector. They were always in debt! Eventually forcing most of them to move back to other parts of Newfoundland.
By 26 July 1934, 225 lumbermen of the Labrador Development Company had already returned to St John’s. Although the men were keen to work, they found poor accommodation and little food. Williams prohibited any buying and selling outside his store and controlled food prices. However, one enterprising local did bring a boatload of goods upriver to Port Hope Simpson, moored offshore and proceeded to do a brisk trade before he was stopped.
Williams’ son, Eric, was sent out to report on this and ordered that those goods be returned to St John’s. No-one would be allowed to compete against William’s monopolistic high prices.
