[2] Ronald Gough Waterhouse was born in Holywell, Flintshire, North Wales, one of five children of a textile mill manager who was also a prominent local Liberal politician.
[3] He established a common law practice in London and on the Wales and Chester Circuit, and, in 1959, stood unsuccessfully for Parliament as the Labour candidate for West Flintshire.
[3] After his retirement in 1996, he was appointed to chair the Tribunal of Inquiry established by the Secretary of State for Wales, William Hague, into allegations of hundreds of cases of child abuse in care homes in Clwyd and Gwynedd between 1974 and 1990.
[3] However, the Inquiry was later criticised for the narrowness of its remit, which meant that claims of abuse by politicians and others outside the care home system, which were raised by some participants, were not considered.
In view of the concerns raised, the Home Secretary, Theresa May, announced on 6 November 2012 that Mrs Justice Julia Macur would head a review into the "scope and conduct" of the Waterhouse Inquiry in the light of claims that it examined only a fraction of the abuse that went on.