Somerset Miners' Association
The Somerset Miners' Association or Somersetshire Miners' Association was a coal mining trade union based in the Somerset coalfield, Somerset, England.
The union was founded in 1872 as a section of the Amalgamated Association of Miners. However, the AAM collapsed in 1875, and the union survived only on a much reduced basis, led by B. Fish and with a presence only in Radstock.[1] In 1888, Samuel Henry Whitehouse, secretary of the Midland Miners' Federation, accepted an invitation to become the full-time secretary and agent for the union. A local coal mine owner almost immediately took Whitehouse to court for supporting a strike, nearly bankrupting him personally, but he remained in post until 1917, greatly expanding the reach and membership of the association.[2]
Always one of the smaller coal mining unions in England, membership being around 2,000 in the 1890s, and reaching a peak membership of 4,310 around 1910.[3]
The union was a founder of the Miners Federation of Great Britain in 1888,[4] and from 1894 until 1904, it participated in the loose South Western Counties Miners’ Federation with the Bristol Miners' Association and the Forest of Dean Miners' Association.[1] In 1937, the Bristol Miners' Association was merged into the Somerset Miners' Association, meaning that for the first time, one union covered all miners in Somerset.[5] In 1945, the MFGB became the National Union of Mineworkers, and the Somerset Miners' Association became its West Country Area, with less autonomy than before.[3] In 1956, due to a decline in mining in the county, the area was merged into the South Wales Area.[1]
Secretaries
- 1875: B. Fish
- 1888: S. H. Whitehouse
- 1917: Fred Swift
- 1945: David Llewellyn
References
- ^ a b c University of the West of England, "Bristol Historical Resource: Trade unions"
- ^ Margaret 'Espinasse, Dictionary of Labour Biography, vol.IV, pp.196-197
- ^ a b Arthur Ivor Ryan and Victoria Marsh, Historical Directory of Trade Unions, vol.I, p.247
- ^ Union Ancestors, "Somersetshire Miners Association Archived 2013-09-20 at the Wayback Machine"
- ^ Archives Hub, "Somerset Miners' Association Archive"
- v
- t
- e
- 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