William John Carron was born in Hull, 19 November 1902, the son of John Carron and Frances Ann Richardson. He was educated at St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School and Hull Technical College. He married Mary Emma McGuire in 1931, with whom he had two daughters.

He was apprenticed to a turner, Messrs Rose, Downs and Thompson Ltd, in Hull, 1918-23, and remained at the firm as a journeyman. He joined the Amalgamated Engineering Union (AEU), 1924, and first became active in union life when he was elected Branch Secretary, 1932-45. He moved to the maintenance department of Reckitt and Coleman, in Hull, 1935-45, and became a shop steward of the AEU and then the union side's chairman of the works committee, 1941. He was elected District President, 1941-5, and became a full time officer of the AEU as Divisional Organizer, 1945-50. He was Executive Councillor, 1950-6, and President, 1956-67. He moved to south London with his family to be closer to AEU headquarters. He was active in the Labour Party; a member of the General Council of the Trades Union Congress, 1954-68; and a Director of the Bank of England, from 1963.

He retired to Forest Hill, London, 1967, and died on 3 December 1969.

He was appointed a Knight of the Order of Chivalry of St Gregory the Great, 1959, and created a knight, 1963, and a life peer, as Lord Carron of Kingston-upon-Hull, 1967.