The West Bromwich Miners' Association was a

trade union 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 ( ...

representing

coal miner Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use c ...

s in southern

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

and eastern

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

, in the United Kingdom. The union brought together small miners' unions based in

Bradley Bradley is an English surname derived from a place name meaning "broad wood" or "broad meadow" in Old English. Like many English surnames Bradley can also be used as a given name and as such has become popular. It is also an Anglicisation of t ...

Coseley Coseley ( ) is a village in the north of the Dudley Metropolitan Borough, in the English West Midlands. Part of the Black Country, it is situated approximately north of Dudley itself, on the border with Wolverhampton. Though it is a part of ...

, Oldbury,

Tipton Tipton is an industrial town in the West Midlands in England with a population of around 38,777 at the 2011 UK Census. It is located northwest of Birmingham. Tipton was once one of the most heavily industrialised towns in the Black Country, w ...

and

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ) is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is north-west of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area known as the Black Country, in terms of geography, ...

, the oldest of which had been founded in either 1860 or 1863. It was established in 1869 as the West Bromwich, Oldbury, Tipton, Coseley and Bradley Amalgamated Association of Miners, linked with the new, national,

Amalgamated Association of Miners The Amalgamated Association of Miners (AAM) was formed in 1869 in Lancashire, at a time of increasing industrial conflict in the British coalfields. History The union was founded by Thomas Halliday and William Pickard, two miners' union agents who ...

(AAM), but was usually known by the shorter title of the "West Bromwich Miners' Association". During this period,

George Henry Rowlinson George Henry Rowlinson (1852 – 23 May 1937) was a British trade unionist. Born in James Bridge in Staffordshire, Rowlinson began working at a coal mine at the age of seven, and was illiterate until his twenties. He then learned to read and ...

served twice as president of the union. The union's membership peaked at 3,105 in 1875, but it only just survived the collapse of the national AAM, membership falling to only 515 in 1881. An 1884 strike involving miners in many of the unions based in the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

brought the union close to collapse. However,

Samuel Henry Whitehouse Samuel Henry Whitehouse (14 February 1849 – 20 December 1919) was a British trade unionist. Early life Born in Swan Village in Staffordshire, Whitehouse began working underground at a coal mine when he was eight years old. He took part in ...

became the union's agent, and in 1886 it became a founder constituent of the

Midland Counties 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 ...

, with Whitehouse becoming the federation's first secretary. The union saw a resurgence in membership, but Whitehouse left in 1888 and was replaced by Henry Rust, who withdrew the union from the federation, and also kept it outside 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). Initially this strategy proved successful, membership reaching 2,218 again by 1892, but by 1898 it was struggling. The union was renamed as the South Staffordshire and East Worcestershire Amalgamated Association of Miners, and Thomas Mansell took over as secretary. In 1899, he brought the union back into the Midland Federation, and through it, also into membership of the MFGB. Membership peaked during

World War I 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 ...

, hitting 4,210 in 1915, but then fell rapidly, declining to 1,031 in 1920. In 1944, the MFGB became the more centralised National Union of Mineworkers, and the union became the South Staffordshire District of its Midlands Area. A couple of years later, it absorbed the

Highley Highley is a large village in Shropshire, England, on the west bank of the River Severn and 7 miles south east of Bridgnorth. The closest cities being Wolverhampton and Birmingham. History Highley began as a rural farming community, including ...

and

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

districts, and was renamed as the "South Staffs and Shropshire District". In 1979, following the closure of the Granville colliery, the last coal mine in the region, the district was dissolved, and its banner was laid up at

Blists Hill Blists Hill Victorian Town is an open-air museum built on a former industrial complex located in the Madeley area of Telford, Shropshire, England. The museum attempts to recreate the sights, sounds and smells of a Victorian Shropshire town ...

General Secretaries

:1870s: Henry Barnes :1880s:

:1890: Henry Rust :1894: Thomas Mansell :1910s: H. Whitehouse : :1940s: J. H. Southall

References

{{National Union of Mineworkers (UK) Mining trade unions National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain) Politics of the West Midlands (county) 1869 establishments in England Mining in Staffordshire Mining in Worcestershire Trade unions established in 1869 Trade unions disestablished in 1979 West Bromwich Trade unions based in the West Midlands (county)