Ness Edwards (5 April 1897 – 3 May 1968) was a trade unionist and

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Labour Party politician: he served as

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(MP) for

Caerphilly Caerphilly (, ; cy, Caerffili, ) is a town and community in Wales. It is situated at the southern end of the Rhymney Valley. It is north of Cardiff and northwest of Newport. It is the largest town in Caerphilly County Borough, and lies wit ...

from July 1939 until his death. He was born in

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, the second of six children of Onesimus Edwards Snr and his wife Ellen. A coal miner and trade unionist, he started work at the Penybont colliery on 5 April 1910, his 13th birthday. By the age of 17 he was elected chairman of the miners lodge at the Arriel Griffin colliery. In 1917, at the age of 20, he was imprisoned as a

conscientious objector A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...

military service Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require a ...

in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He had joined 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 ...

in 1915, and through the ILP he came into contact with the No Conscription Fellowship. When

conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

was introduced in 1916, Ness Edwards' conscientious objections to compulsory service were 'absolutist' and based on his trade union and socialist principles. He was treated harshly - imprisoned with hard labour at Dartmoor and later at Wormwood Scrubs, beaten in Brecon barracks and chased naked by soldiers with fixed bayonets, forced to work in stone quarries in freezing weather.Kenneth O. Morgan ''Revolution to Devolution: Reflections on Welsh Democracy'' (2014) Ch. 5, pp 162-3 He was elected to Parliament at the

1939 Caerphilly by-election The 1939 Caerphilly by-election was a by-election, parliamentary by-election held on 4 July 1939 for the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, British House of Commons United Kingdom constituencies, constituency of Caerphilly (UK Parliament con ...

, following the death of Labour MP and fellow conscientious objector

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. Edwards remained as Caerphilly's MP until his death in 1968. At the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Edwards was instrumental in helping

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miners escape the

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. An associate of

Aneurin Bevan Aneurin "Nye" Bevan PC (; 15 November 1897 – 6 July 1960) was a Welsh Labour Party politician, noted for tenure as Minister of Health in Clement Attlee's government in which he spearheaded the creation of the British National Health ...

and

Jim Griffiths James (Jeremiah) Griffiths (19 September 1890 – 7 August 1975) was a Welsh Labour Party politician, trade union leader and the first Secretary of State for Wales. Background and education He was born in the predominantly Welsh-speaking vill ...

, Edwards was Parliamentary Secretary to the

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and National Service from 1945 to 1950 and

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from 1950 to 1951. In 1948 he became a member of the

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. In 1925 Ness Edwards married Elina Victoria Williams, one of six children of Richard Williams, a

county court bailiff County Court bailiffs are employees of Her Majesty's Courts & Tribunals Service and are responsible for enforcing orders of the County Court by recovering money owed under County Court judgments. Bailiffs can seize and sell goods to recover the ...

, and his wife Anne Davies, of

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. His daughter

Llin Golding Llinos Golding, Baroness Golding (born 21 March 1933) is a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom who currently sits in the House of Lords. She qualified as a radiographer and worked in the NHS, and is currently the Patron of the Societ ...

, born 'Llinos', was Labour MP for

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from 1986 to 2001: she was appointed to the House of Lords in 2001 as Baroness Golding Ness Edwards died at Caerphilly Miners' Hospital on 3 May 1968, aged 71.

Works

* (1920) "Some Thoughts on Tactics" ''

Workers' Dreadnought ''Workers' Dreadnought'' was a newspaper published by variously named political parties led by Sylvia Pankhurst. The paper was started by Pankhurst at the suggestion of Zelie Emerson, after Pankhurst had been expelled from the Women's Social ...

'' Vol. VII No. 18 24 July 1920 * (1938) ''History 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 ...

''; vol. 1. Lawrence & Wishart, * (1958) "Is this the road?"; Cambrian Press, Hughes (1 Jan. 1956)

References

* Davies, J., (2001). EDWARDS, NESS (1897 - 1968), trade unionist and Member of Parliament. Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved 19 Dec 2021, from https://biography.wales/article/s2-EDWA-NES-1897. (With links to photographs and election literature held by the National Library of Wales) * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Ness People from Abertillery 1897 births 1968 deaths Welsh Labour Party MPs British conscientious objectors National Union of Mineworkers-sponsored MPs Welsh conscientious objectors UK MPs 1935–1945 UK MPs 1945–1950 UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 UK MPs 1964–1966 UK MPs 1966–1970 Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Ministers in the Attlee governments, 1945–1951