Warwickshire Miners' Association
- United Kingdom
The Warwickshire Miners' Association was a trade union representing coal miners in the Warwickshire area of England.
In 1885, the Newdegate family leased their Warwickshire coal mine to a Sheffield-based company, who attempted to cut costs by reducing miners' wages. This prompted miners to strike, and afterwards they formed the Warwickshire and Stafford Miners' Trade Union, which was later renamed as the "Warwickshire Miners' Association". The union's first secretary was William Johnson, who later became a local Member of Parliament.[2]
In 1889, the union was a founder constituent of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB).[3] In about 1892, it affiliated to the Midland Counties Miners' Federation, with Johnson becoming treasurer of the federation. The MFGB voted to affiliate to the Labour Party in 1909, but Johnson and the Warwickshire Miners refused to follow suit. This led to a series of disputes, and in 1912 a group of members including Walter John French split away to form the rival North Warwickshire Miners' Association. George Henry Jones became secretary of the North Warwickshire Miners, but moved to the Warwickshire Miners in 1919, and two years later was able to persuade the North Warwickshire Miners to rejoin the original union.[4][5]
At its peak, the union had 11,000 members, in 25 branches.[6]
The MFGB became the National Union of Mineworkers in 1944, and the Warwickshire Miners' Association became its Warwickshire District (Midlands Area), with less autonomy than before.
General Secretaries
- 1885: William Johnson
- 1917: William Johnson, Jr
- 1919: George Henry Jones
- 1947: A. J. Pratt
- 1960s: Vivian Francis
- 1970s: Dick Storer
References
- ^ Report on Trade Unions in 1905-1907. London: Board of Trade. 1909. p. 82-101.
- ^ Quinault, Roland (2004). Landlords and Labourers in Warwickshire c.1870-1920. Dugdale Society. p. 12. ISBN 0852200854.
- ^ "Miners' Conference at Birmingham". Manchester Guardian. 9 October 1889.
- ^ Smethurst, John B.; Carter, Peter (2009). Historical Directory of Trade Unions. Vol. 6. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing. p. 506. ISBN 9780754666837.
- ^ The Labour Who's Who. London: The Labour Publishing Company. 1924. p. 94.
- ^ Page Arnot, Robin (1949). The Miners: 1889-1910. Allen & Unwin. p. 373.
- v
- t
- e
- 1889 Pickard
- 1904 En. Edwards
- 1912 Smillie
- 1922 Smith
- 1929 Richards
- 1931 Eb. Edwards
- 1932 Lee
- 1934 J. Jones
- 1939 Lawther
- 1954 E. Jones
- 1960 Machen
- 1960 Ford
- 1971 Gormley
- 1982 Scargill
- 2002 Lavery
- 2012 Wilson
- 1889 Woods
- 1909 Smillie
- 1912 Harvey
- 1914 House
- 1917 Smith
- 1922 Walsh
- 1924 Richards
- 1929 Eb. Edwards
- 1931 Lee
- 1932 J. Jones
- 1933 Davies
- 1934 Lawther
- 1939 Bowman
- 1950 E. Jones
- 1954 T. Jones
- 1961 Collindridge
- 1963 Bullough
- 1969 Schofield
- 1973 McGahey
- 1987 Thompson
- 1989 Vacant
- 1992 Cave
- 2002 Stanley
- 2010 Wilson
- 2012 Thomas
- 1889 Ashton
- 1919 Hodges
- 1924 Cook
- 1932 Eb. Edwards
- 1946 Horner
- 1959 Paynter
- 1968 Daly
- 1984 Heathfield
- 1992 Scargill
- 1992 Vacant?
- 2002 Kemp
- 2007 Kitchen
- 1889 En. Edwards
- 1904 Abraham
- 1918 Robson
- 1921 Richardson
- Bristol
- Cleveland
- Cokemen
- Colliery Officials and Staffs
- Cumberland
- Derbyshire
- Durham
- Forest of Dean
- Kent
- Lancashire and Cheshire
- Leicestershire
- Midland Counties (Cannock Chase
- North Staffordshire
- Old Hill
- Pelsall
- Shropshire
- Warwickshire
- West Bromwich)
- Northumberland
- North Wales
- Nottinghamshire
- Scotland (Ayrshire
- Fife and Kinross
- Lanarkshire
- Mid and East Lothian
- Mid and West Lothian
- Stirling)
- Somerset
- South Derbyshire
- South Wales
- Yorkshire