George Henry Jones (1884 – December 1958) was a British

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 ...

and politician. Born in

Hednesford Hednesford (pronounced ) is a historic market town in the Cannock Chase (district), Cannock Chase district of Staffordshire, England. Cannock Chase is to the north, the town of Cannock to the south and Rugeley to the southwest.The population ...

, Jones began working as a pit-boy at an early age. He became active in the Cannock Chase Miners' Association, and was elected as its president in 1912. In 1914, he became the full-time general secretary and agent for the North Warwickshire Miners' Association, and then in 1919 became general secretary and agent for the larger

Warwickshire Miners' Association 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 re ...

. Jones was also active in the Labour Party, serving on Tamworth Town Council, and he stood in the 1922 Tamworth by-election, taking a distant second place, with 31.2% of the vote. Eventually, he served as Mayor of Tamworth. At the

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

and

1935 United Kingdom general election The 1935 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 14 November 1935 and resulted in a large, albeit reduced, majority for the National Government now led by Stanley Baldwin of the Conservative Party. The greatest number of members, ...

s, he stood unsuccessfully in

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west of B ...

. In about 1930, Jones was elected as secretary 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 all his previous unions were affiliated; he remained leader of the Warwickshire Miners. 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 ...

(MFGB). He remained in post as the MFGB became the National Union of Mineworkers, but left his trade union posts in 1947, to become Labour Director of the West Midlands Coal Board, then in 1950 became its vice-chair. He retired in 1952, although he continued to serve as a part-time member of the board until his death, four years later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, George Henry 1884 births 1958 deaths Labour Party (UK) councillors Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates British trade union leaders Mayors of places in Staffordshire People from Hednesford