John Davies (died 25 July 1918) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

politician and

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 ...

, who served as Mayor of

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 ...

. Born in

Hirwaun Hirwaun is a village and community at the north end of the Cynon Valley in the County Borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales. It is NW of the town of Aberdare, and comes under the Aberdare post town. At the 2001 census, Hirwaun had a populati ...

, Davies left at the age of eight to attend school in Newchurch. Four years later, he returned to live with his father in Hirwaun, and began working at a local

coal mine 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 became active in the local trade union, the

Aberdare, Merthyr and Dowlais Miners' Association The Aberdare, Merthyr and Dowlais Miners' Association was a trade union representing coal miners in part of Glamorgan in South Wales. Origins There had been trade union activity in the area from the 1830s onwards and in 1857 a major dispute whi ...

, and when he was 27 he was elected to its executive committee. He was proposed at a workers' meeting as a labour candidate in the October 1888 Merthyr by-election, but he refused the nomination. In 1895, Davies was elected to represent the Aberdare miners on the Sliding Scale Committee, which determined their wages. He became regarded at the deputy to local miners' agent David Morgan, and during the

Welsh coal strike of 1898 The Welsh coal strike of 1898 was an industrial dispute involving the colliers of South Wales and Monmouthshire. The strike began as an attempt by the colliers to remove the sliding scale, which determined their wage based on the price of coal. ...

collected donations from miners in North Wales and South Staffordshire. At the end of the strike, he was one of four miners' representatives who refused to sign an agreement. After the strike, 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) was established, and the local union was split into three districts. Davies was elected to the first executive committee of the SWMF. Soon after, he won election as full-time miners' agent for the Dowlais District, relocating to the area, and remained in the post until his death. In the late 19th-century, Davies spent eighteen months on the

Aberdare School Board The Aberdare School Board was formed in 1871 and consisted of thirteen members elected for a period of three years. It was abolished, along with other School Boards in 1902 and its responsibilities transferred to Glamorgan County Council. In the m ...

. He was elected to represent Dowlais on the

Glamorgan County Council Glamorgan County Council was established in 1889 together with the administrative county of Glamorganshire under the Local Government Act 1888. The first elections to the council were held in January 1889. The council was abolished under the Local ...

in an 1899 by-election, as a Liberal-Labour candidate. He was made 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 ...

in 1905, but stood down in 1908, when Merthyr was made into a county borough. He was elected to Merthyr's first council, again representing Dowlais, and in 1914/15, he served as Mayor of Merthyr. He was the second worker to become Mayor of Merthyr, after Enoch Morrell. Davies was a deacon at the Bethania Congregational Chapel, and advocated

abstinence Abstinence is a self-enforced restraint from indulging in bodily activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure. Most frequently, the term refers to sexual abstinence, but it can also mean abstinence from alcohol, drugs, food, etc. ...

from alcohol. In an obituary, the ''Merthyr Pioneer'' noted that Dowlais "may have more brilliant leaders in future – it will never have courageous, straightforward, or simple leader; a leader whose ideal of leadership was to be the spokesman of his class and kind, and not the exponent who marched ahead preaching the gospel as he conceived it should be spoken by the mob".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, John Year of birth missing 1918 deaths Liberal-Labour (UK) politicians Mayors of places in Wales People from Hirwaun Welsh trade unionists