Sir John Williams, 1st Baronet GCVO (6 November 1840 – 24 May 1926), was a Welsh physician, who attended Queen Victoria and was raised to the baronetcy by her in 1894.
As well as his career as an obstetric surgeon in London, he helped set up a Welsh hospital in South Africa during the Boer War, and was involved in the campaign against tuberculosis in his native country.
The 193 books and pamphlets that he purchased from Shirburn Castle are considered the most valuable group in the collection as they include important examples of the earliest Welsh printed literature.
Another important part of the collection comprises editions of Arthurian romance, including a single incunabulum, Lancelot du Lac (1488), and a copy of all the Kelmscott Press publications.
Sir John was accused of the Ripper crimes in a 2005 book, Uncle Jack, written by one of his distant relatives, Tony (Michael Anthony) Williams, and co-authored by Humphrey Price.
The book also asserts that a badly blunted surgical knife, which belonged to Sir John, was the murder weapon.