honorific_prefix death_date death_place birth_place nationality honorific_suffix birth_date article_title name occupation
sir 09 june 2015 ponsonby , auckland , new zealand ohakune , manawatu-wanganui , new zealand new zealand knzm qc 01 december 1934 peter williams -lrb- lawyer -rrb-
 peter williams lawyer
peter williams -lrb- lawyer -rrb-

sir peter alderidge williams -lrb- 1 december 1934 -- 9 june 2015 -rrb- was a new zealand lawyer and penal reform advocate .
williams was born in 1934 and educated at feilding high school .
he studied at auckland university college , graduating llb in 1960 .
a noted defence lawyer , williams represented high-profile clients including terry clark , ronald jorgensen , arapeta awatere and winston peters , and was involved in having the conviction of arthur allan thomas for the murders of harvey and jeannette crewe overturned .
during his 60-year career , he appeared in over 100 murder trials .
williams was a long-time advocate for the humane treatment of prisoners in new zealand , and served as the head of the auckland branch of the howard league for penal reform .
he was the foundation president of the auckland criminal bar association .
williams was appointed a queen 's counsel in 1987 .
in 1990 he was awarded the new zealand 1990 commemoration medal , and in the 2015 new year honours williams was appointed a knight companion of the new zealand order of merit for services to the law .
a private investiture was held at his home as it was feared that he would not live until the scheduled investiture on 6 may 2015 at government house in wellington .
he died from prostate cancer at his home in the auckland suburb of ponsonby on 9 june 2015 .
