 Immediately upon his retirement he led a three-year inquiry into the North Wales child abuse scandal, which reported in 2000.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.He studied at Holywell Grammar School, trained as a pilot with the RAF Volunteer Reserve, and began studying law at St John's College, Cambridge.