Freddie "Fearless" Sidney Williams (28 October 1942 – 21 June 2008) was a Scottish businessman, gambler and bookmaker.
Born in the Ayrshire mining village of Cumnock, he was spared a career as a miner due to ill health at the age of 15 and went on to work for local soft drinks company Currie's of Auchinleck.
At one time Williams also operated Caledonian Clear, his own premium bottled water brand from the same factory.
[citation needed] In 1998 Williams suffered a massive heart attack and later underwent a triple-heart bypass.
Williams shot to fame in March 2000, taking mammoth bets from JP McManus amongst others at the Cheltenham Festival.
Williams laid short favourites Shannon Gale and Nick Dundee, owned by John Magnier, close friends of JP McManus.
That night, Williams and daughter Julie were subject to an armed robbery as they travelled back to their hotel from Cheltenham.
A rising public profile saw Williams undertake the writing of a Festival column for the Daily Record.
[7] Williams spent the later years of his life in a relationship with long-term partner Margaret Gribben, but the pair never married, and his £8 million estate passed on to his two daughters.
On 21 June 2008, Freddie Willams died having suffered a major heart attack at his home in Skares, near Cumnock.