William Hammond Patterson (14 February 1847 – 16 July 1896), known as W. H. Patterson, 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 Employee ben ...

. Born in

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is als ...

to a

Primitive Methodist The Primitive Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination with the holiness movement. It began in England in the early 19th century, with the influence of American evangelist Lorenzo Dow (1777–1834). In the United States, the Primiti ...

family, Patterson's father worked in quarrying, and he was sent to work at the quarry in

Jesmond Jesmond is a suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne, situated to the east of the Town Moor. Jesmond is considered to be one of the most affluent suburbs of Newcastle upon Tyne, with higher average house prices than most other areas of the city. H ...

when only eleven years old. Within a year, he moved to Heworth Colliery, and began his career in

coal mining 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 ...

.Norman Emery, ''Banners of the Durham coalfield'', p.63 In 1865, 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 ( ...

lodge was established at Heworth, and Patterson was appointed as its secretary. He was a delegate to the 1869 meeting which founded the

Durham Miners' Association The Durham Miners' Association (DMA) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. History The union was founded in 1869 and its membership quickly rose to 4,000, but within a year had fallen back to 2,000. In December 1870, William Crawford becam ...

, and served on its first executive, being elected as its agent for south-west Durham in 1870. He was elected as financial secretary in 1872, and his expertise in this role, along with his service as vice president from 1878,Miners' leaders
, Public Monuments and Sculpture Association led him to be elected as general secretary on

William Crawford William Crawford may refer to: Entertainment * William Broderick Crawford (1911–1986), American film actor * Bill Crawford (cartoonist) (1913–1982), American editorial cartoonist * William L. Crawford (1911–1984), U.S. publisher and editor ...

's death in 1890. However, his time leading the union was troubled, as it attempted to take its own course during the

UK miners' strike, 1892-1893 The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. He died in 1896 aged 49, still in post.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, William Hammond 1847 births 1896 deaths English miners Trade unionists from Newcastle upon Tyne British trade union leaders