James Winstone (9 February 1863 – 27 July 1921) 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 benefits (s ...

Born in

Risca Risca ( cy, Rhisga) is a town in the Caerphilly County Borough and the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshire in south-east Wales. Risca has a railway station, opened on the Ebbw Valley Railway ...

, Winstone worked from the age of eight, first at a local

brickworks A brickworks, also known as a brick factory, is a factory for the manufacturing of bricks, from clay or shale. Usually a brickworks is located on a clay bedrock (the most common material from which bricks are made), often with a quarry for ...

, then at Risca United

Colliery Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

. He was elected checkweighman, and worked with

William Brace William Brace (23 September 1865 – 12 October 1947) was a Welsh trade unionist and Liberal and Labour politician. Early life and career Born in Risca, in the coal-mining district of Monmouthshire, he was one of six children of Thomas and A ...

to campaign against the sliding pay scale. As a result, he was a prominent founder member of the

South Wales Miners' Federation The South Wales Miners' Federation (SWMF), nicknamed "The Fed", was a trade union for coal miners in South Wales. It survives as the South Wales Area of the National Union of Mineworkers. Forerunners The Amalgamated Association of Miners (AA ...

(SWMF) in 1898. Winstone was also active in the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

, and was a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

lay preacher. He was elected for the Labour Party to Risca

Urban District Council In England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected urban district council (UDC), which shared local gove ...

, then to

Abersychan Abersychan is a town and community north of Pontypool in Torfaen, Wales, and lies within the boundaries of the historic county of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent. Abersychan lies in the narrow northern section of the Afon Lwy ...

council, which he chaired in 1911. In 1907, he was elected to Monmouthshire County Council. He stood at

Monmouth Boroughs Monmouth Boroughs (also known as the Monmouth District of Boroughs) was a United Kingdom constituencies, parliamentary constituency consisting of several towns in Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshire. It returned one Member of Parliament (Uni ...

at the 1906 general election, but received no backing from his union, and was not elected. In 1912, he was elected as Vice President of the SWMF, the first socialist to such a position. He was selected as the Labour candidate for the 1915 Merthyr Tydfil by-election, the seat having previously been held by

Keir Hardie James Keir Hardie (15 August 185626 September 1915) was a Scottish trade unionist and politician. He was a founder of the Labour Party, and served as its first parliamentary leader from 1906 to 1908. Hardie was born in Newhouse, Lanarkshire. ...

, but he was defeated by

Charles Butt Stanton Charles Butt Stanton (7 April 1873 – 6 December 1946) was a British politician, who served as an Member of Parliament (MP) from 1915 to 1922. He entered Parliament by winning one of the two seats for Merthyr Tydfil at a by-election on 25 No ...

of the

British Workers League The British Workers League was a 'patriotic labour' group which was anti-socialist and pro-British Empire. Founded originally as the ''Socialist National Defence Committee'', the league operated fro''May 1916''to 1927. The league's origins lay ...

, who had resigned as a miners' agent to run with

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

and

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

support as a pro-war independent labour candidate. In 1915, he replaced Brace as union president, serving until his death. He also stood in

Merthyr Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydf ...

at the 1918 general election, but was again unsuccessful. In 1920, he chaired Monmouthshire County Council.Winstone, James
, Dictionary of Welsh Biography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winstone, James 1863 births 1921 deaths Councillors in Wales Independent Labour Party National Administrative Committee members Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates British trade union leaders People from Risca