Edward Gordon Williams was born on 20 July 1888 in Honiton, Devon, the son of Edward Gordon Williams and Louise Davies Williams.

He started his rowing at Eton and was in the eight that won the Ladies’ Plate at Henley in 1905. In his final year he was the 1907 school sculling champion and held the position of Captain of the Boats at Eton.

He then studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, winning the University Pairs title in 1908 (with Eric Powell) and 1909 (with Gordon Thomson) and was a triple blue in the Cambridge rowing eight between 1908-1910. He became president of the Cambridge University Boat Club in 1910 and was also captain of the Leander Club.

Edward was part of the Cambridge eights at the 1908 London Summer Olympics, winning a bronze medal. The next year, he won the 1909 Silver Goblets with Banner Johnstone at Henley, one of the finest moments of his rowing career.

After Cambridge, he was appointed as a colonial administrator in North-Western Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) between 1910-1913 with The Chartered Company.

He returned to England, rowing in the 1914 Henley Regatta, reaching the Diamond Sculls semi-final but losing to Colin Stuart. Williams also reached the final of the Silver Goblets with Ralph Le Blanc-Smith only to be beaten by brothers Sidney and Alfred Swann.

In September 1914, Edward joined the 2nd Battalion of the Grenadier Guards, but less than 12 months later on the 12 August 1915 he was killed in action on the Western Front, aged 27. He is commemorated at St. Venant Communal Cemetery, France in the French Civilian Plot.