Somerset Miners' Association

Somerset coalfield

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"

[bristol-1] University of the West of England, "Bristol Historical Resource: Trade unions"

[biography-2] Margaret 'Espinasse, Dictionary of Labour Biography, vol.IV, pp.196-197

[ryan-3] Arthur Ivor Ryan and Victoria Marsh, Historical Directory of Trade Unions, vol.I, p.247

[4] Union Ancestors, "Somersetshire Miners Association Archived 2013-09-20 at the Wayback Machine"

[5] Archives Hub, "Somerset Miners' Association Archive"

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v t Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB) and National Union of Mineworkers (NUM)
Presidents	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
Vice-Presidents	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 2010 Wilson 2012
General Secretaries	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
Treasurers	1889 En. Edwards 1904 Abraham 1918 Robson 1921 Richardson
Affiliates and areas	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
Strikes	1893 1912 1926 1969 1972 1974 1984–1985