Henry Hicken (2 April 1882 – 20 September 1964) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 North Wingfield in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, Jarvis left school at the age of twelve to work at Pilsley Colliery, then moved to Parkhouse Colliery and Williamthorpe Colliery, where he was elected

checkweighman {{Short description, Occupation within mining, especially coal A checkweighman (occasionally checkmeasurer or checkweigher) is a person who is responsible for weighing coal or another mined substance, and thereby determining the payment due to each ...

and secretary of the local lodge of the Derbyshire Miners' Association (DMA). Initially a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

and a supporter of the Liberal Party, he became a

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

atheist, and was known for never wearing a tie.J. E. Williams, ''Dictionary of Labour Biography'' Vol.I, pp.173-174 In 1920, Jarvis was elected as treasurer of the DMA. This was affiliated to the Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB), and he stood unsuccessfully for the post of general secretary of the MFGB in 1924. However, in 1928, he was elected as general secretary of the DMA, also winning a seat on the executive of the MFGB. He stood repeatedly for other offices in the MFGB: vice-president in 1931, 1932 and 1934 and president in 1930 and 1939, but was never successful. Hicken became Regional Labour Director for the Ministry of Fuel and Power in 1942 and offered to resign his DMA post. The DMA executive rejected his resignation, but branches held a vote which ousted him. Now a full-time civil servant, he joined the National Coal Board in 1947 and was made an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

the following year. He retired in 1956 and died eight years later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hicken, Harry 1882 births 1964 deaths English trade unionists People from North Wingfield British trade union leaders