Tim Williams gained his BA at the University of Leicester in 1980. He was a seasonal site supervisor at Phil Barker’s excavations at Wroxeter between 1976-1982, the Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust 1976-7 & 1980, Colchester Archaeological Trust 1980, and then the Department of Urban Archaeology (Museum of London) between 1981-1991. Between 1991-2002 he was Head of Archaeology Commissions at English Heritage, before joining University College, London in 2002.
His early focus on urban archaeology, initially in Roman Britain, and then during rescue excavations in the souks of Beirut developed into an interest in the Late Antique transition to the early Islamic city, which led to research on the Silk Roads to Central Asia. In 2001 he became the Director the UCL/Turkmen research project at the Silk Road city of Ancient Merv, Turkmenistan which subsequently led to establishing the Central Asian Archaeological Landscape (CAAL) project in 2018.
He is a member of the International Scientific Committee on Archaeological Heritage Management (ICAHM) and has participated on ICOMOS advisory missions and panels, especially with regard to the Silk Roads, developing the strategy for Silk Roads World Heritage nomination through a thematic study, and assisting with nomination dossiers. He also established the UCL/Northwest University (Xi'an) International Centre for Silk Roads Archaeology & Heritage in 2018.
John Cecil Cloake was born in Wimbledon, London, England on 2 December, 1924, the son of Dr Cecil Stedman Cloake and Maude Osborne Newling. He was educated at King's College School and served in the Royal Engineers in India and Japan during and after World War II. After the war he completed his education, studying History at Cambridge University.
In 1948, Cloake joined the Foreign Office and served as:
- 3rd Secretary, Baghdad, 1949
- 3rd then 2nd Secretary, Saigon, 1951
- Geneva Conference, 1954
- FO, 1954
- Private Secretary to Permanent Under-Secretary, 1956
- Private Secretary to Parliamentary Under-Secretary, 1957
- 1st Secretary, 1957
- Consul (Commercial), New York, 1958
- 1st Secretary, Moscow, 1962
- FO, 1963
- Diplomatic Service Administration Office, 1965
- (Counsellor, 1966)
- (Head of Accommodation Department, 1967)
- Counsellor (Commercial), Tehran, 1968–72
- Fellow, Centre for International Studies, LSE, 1972–73
- Head of Trade Relations and Exports Department, FCO, 1973–76
- Ambassador to Bulgaria, 1976–80
While in Saigon, in 1952, he met Margaret ("Molli") Morris (1929–2008) from Washington, D.C., who was serving there in the United States Diplomatic Service, and they were married in Cambridge four years later in 1956. She died in 2008.
Cloake was made a CMG (Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George) in 1977 and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1988.
Cloake and his wife moved to Richmond, London in 1962 and wrote several books on the history of that area.
He died on 9th July, 2014.