William Bailey (29 June 1851 – 29 July 1896) was a British

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 Saint Helena, Bailey's father was a soldier, and the family returned to England in 1857, settling at Bargate (near West Row), Suffolk. Bailey worked on a farm from the age of nine, then when he was fourteen moved to work at Fence Colliery near

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

. He later transferred to Beighton Colliery, then Norwood Colliery, just over the border 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 ...

. He was elected as the pit's checkweighman, and also became active in the

South Yorkshire Miners' Association The South Yorkshire Miners' Association (SYMA) was an early British trade union representing coal miners in the southern West Riding of Yorkshire and northern Derbyshire. The union was founded in 1858 at the White Bear Inn in Barnsley in respo ...

(SYMA).Joyce Bellamy and John Saville, ''Dictionary of Labour Biography'', vol. II, pp. 30-31 Bailey was a founder of the

Derbyshire Miners' Association The Derbyshire Miners' Association was a trade union in the United Kingdom. The union was founded in 1880 to represent coal miners in northern Derbyshire, as a split from the South Yorkshire Miners' Association. Although it initially aimed t ...

, a split from the SYMA, and represented it on the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in England and Wales, representing the majority of trade unions. There are 48 affiliated unions, with a total of about 5.5 million members. Frances ...

in 1883, 1887 and 1889. In 1884, he supported a strike at Norwood Colliery, and was fired, forcing him to take work as an insurance agent. This enabled him to become more politically active, being a founder of the

Labour Electoral Association {{Short description, Political motive of the Labour Electoral Association The Labour Electoral Association was a political organisation in the United Kingdom which aimed to get working men elected to Parliament. Foundation The issue of political re ...

(LEA) in 1886, and leading a campaign for miners to be able to elect any other miners as their checkweighman, even if they were based at another colliery. This campaign was successful, with a law enabling it being passed in 1887. That year, Bailey was invited to become the full-time agent and general secretary of the

Nottinghamshire Miners' Association The Nottinghamshire Miners' Association was a trade union representing coal miners in Nottinghamshire, England. A Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Miners' Association was founded in the 1860s, but became moribund by the 1870s, although some bran ...

. He took the post, and proved highly successful; in six years, he took membership from around 500 to nearly 19,000. Bailey remained involved with the LEA, and became a vice-president in 1890, and then president in 1892. In 1889, he was elected to Nottingham Town Council as a Liberal-Labour member, serving until his death. He was a founder of 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 ...

in 1890 and served on its executive committee. In 1893, he stood down as general secretary, instead taking up the post of financial secretary, which he held until his death in 1896. In his spare time, Bailey was a Primitive Methodist preacher.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, William 1851 births 1896 deaths Liberal-Labour (UK) politicians Nottingham City Councillors Saint Helenian people English Methodist ministers Trade unionists from Derbyshire 19th-century Methodists