Frederick James Hancock (born 1873) 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 union 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 benefits ( ...

leader. Hancock was born in

Talke Talke is a village in Staffordshire, England, northwest of Newcastle-under-Lyme and southwest of Kidsgrove. Population details taken at the 2011 census can be found under Kidsgrove. Etymology Its unusual name is derived from the even more un ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

. He attended the Butt Lane National School, and then spent some time studying at

Allegheny College he, תגל ערבה ותפרח כחבצלת , mottoeng = "Add to your faith, virtue and to your faith, knowledge" (2 Peter 1:5)"The desert shall rejoice and the blossom as the rose" (Isaiah 35:1) , faculty = 193 ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. Hancock worked as a coal miner in Staffordshire, and became active in the North Staffordshire Miners' Association, serving as its financial secretary from 1914. This role brought him greater prominence in the movement, and in 1926 and 1927 he served on the executive of the

Miners' Federation of Great Britain The Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB) was established after a meeting of local mining trade unions in Newport, Wales in 1888. The federation was formed to represent and co-ordinate the affairs of local and regional miners' unions in Engla ...

. In the early 1930s,

Samuel Finney Samuel Finney (1857 – 14 April 1935) was a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. Life and career Born at Talk-o'-th'-Hill, Finney began working when he was ten years old, and later became a coal miner. In 1881, he was appointed ...

, the general secretary of the North Staffordshire Miners, retired, and Hancock won the election to succeed him. He was also elected to succeed Finney as president of the

Midland Miners' Federation The Midland Counties Miners' Federation was a trade union, representing coal miners in the West Midlands region of England. History The union was founded in 1886. It initially had seven affiliates, including the North Stafford Miners' Associatio ...

, to which the North Staffordshire Miners were affiliated. He frequently attended 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 ...

, and in 1937 was its delegate to the

Trades and Labour Congress of Canada The Trades and Labor Congress of Canada was a Canada-wide central federation of trade unions from 1886 to 1956. It was founded at the initiative of the Toronto Trades and Labour Council and the Knights of Labor. It was the third attempt at a nat ...

. Hancock retired in 1941. In his spare time, he served as a Methodist

lay preacher Lay preacher is a preacher or a religious proclaimer who is not a formally ordained cleric Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presidi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hancock, Frederick James 1873 births Year of death missing Allegheny College alumni British coal miners Trade unionists from Staffordshire General secretaries of British trade unions Presidents of British trade unions People from Talke