William Bayliss (19 December 1886 – 12 February 1963) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...

. Born in

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

, Bayliss left school at the age of twelve to work at a colliery. He joined the Leicestershire Miners' Association, but after becoming involved in industrial action, he was sacked and, a year later, moved to

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated Notts.) is a landlocked county in the East Midlands region of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. The traditi ...

to find work. There, he became active in the

Nottinghamshire Miners' Association The Nottinghamshire Miners' Association was a trade union representing coal miners in Nottinghamshire, England. A Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Miners' Association was founded in the 1860s, but became moribund by the 1870s, although some branc ...

, and also in the Labour Party."Report of the Proceedings of the Annual Convention of the American Federation of Labor" (1943), p.325 Bayliss became his union branch delegate in 1915, and served a year as vice-president of the union in 1927, and a year as president in 1929. In 1932, he became the union's full-time financial secretary. In this role he worked with

Herbert Booth Herbert Henry Howard Booth (26 August 1862 – 25 September 1926) was a Salvation Army officer, the third son of five children to William and Catherine Booth (Mumford), who later went on to serve as an independent evangelist. He oversaw t ...

to promote reunification with the rival Nottinghamshire Miners' Industrial Union, which was achieved in 1937, whereupon he became an agent for the merged Nottinghamshire Miners' Federated Union (NMFU). In 1943, Bayliss was chosen as one of the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national tra ...

' two representatives to the

American Federation of Labour The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutual ...

. Bayliss was elected to

Nottinghamshire County Council Nottinghamshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Nottinghamshire in England. It consists of 66 county councillors, elected from 56 electoral divisions every four years. The most recent election ...

, becoming an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

, and serving as its chairman from 1945. In 1946, he was elected as President of the

Nottinghamshire Area of the National Union of Mineworkers The Nottinghamshire Miners' Association was a trade union representing coal miners in Nottinghamshire, England. A Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Miners' Association was founded in the 1860s, but became moribund by the 1870s, although some branc ...

, successor of the NMFU; he served until 1952, when he retired and joined the

National Coal Board The National Coal Board (NCB) was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the United Kingdom's collieries on "v ...

.Bayliss, William
, ''

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bayliss, Bill 1889 births 1963 deaths Members of Nottinghamshire County Council Trade unionists from Leicestershire Trade unionists from Nottinghamshire Labour Party (UK) councillors