The Forest of Dean Miners' Association was a

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

for coal miners in the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the Counties of England, county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangle, triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and no ...

area of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The union was founded in 1870, based in

Cinderford Cinderford is a town and civil parish on the eastern fringe of the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, England. The population was 8,777 at the 2021 Census. The town came into existence in the 19th century, following the rapid expansion of the ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

. It initially prioritised calling for waste ground to be sold cheaply to miners so they could set up their own works, and for workers to be represented on the local

Board of Guardians Boards of guardians were ''ad hoc'' authorities that administered Poor Law in the United Kingdom from 1835 to 1930. England and Wales Boards of guardians were created by the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, replacing the parish overseers of the po ...

. A strike in 1871 at Parkend Colliery was successful in raising wages and led to the appointment of a

checkweighman {{Short description, Occupation within mining, especially coal A checkweighman (occasionally checkmeasurer or checkweigher) is a person who is responsible for weighing coal or another mined substance, and thereby determining the payment due to each ...

.Arthur Marsh and Victoria Ryan, ''Historical Directory of British Trade Unions'', vol.II, pp.218-219 The association became part of the

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 wh ...

(AAM) in 1872, but the AAM refused strike pay to local miners during a long dispute from 1874 to 1875, and so the union left and again became independent. This dispute was less successful, with only a concession of wage being reduced by 5% instead of 10%. From 1873 to 1877, the union published a weekly newspaper, the ''Forest of Dean Examiner''. In 1877, the general secretary, Timothy Mountjoy, was discharged, and the union became moribund until 1882, when it was reconstituted. The union later joined 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, Newport, Wales in 1888. The federation was formed to represent and co-ordinate the affairs of local and regional miners' ...

, and from 1894 until 1904, it participated in the loose South Western Counties Miners’ Federation with the

Bristol Miners' Association The Bristol Miners' Association was a trade union representing coal miners in Bristol and Bedminster, Bristol, Bedminster in England. The union was founded in June 1889 with around 2,000 members. It recruited Northumberland miner William Whitefi ...

and the

Somerset Miners' Association The Somerset Miners' Association or Somersetshire Miners' Association was a coal mining trade union based in the Somerset coalfield, Somerset, England. The union was founded in 1872 as a section of the Amalgamated Association of Miners. However, ...

University of the West of England The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a Public university, public research university, located in and around Bristol, England, UK. With more than 39,912 students and 4,300 staff, it is the largest provider of hi ...

,
Trade unions
", Bristol Historical Resource In 1940, faced with falling number of miners in the district, it merged into the South Wales Miners Federation. Henry Rowlinson served as agent and secretary of the union from the 1880s until 1917, when his support for

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

became unpopular. He was replaced by Jack Williams, soon to become a sympathiser of the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

and prominent figure in the

National Minority Movement The National Minority Movement was a British organisation, established in 1924 by the Communist Party of Great Britain, which attempted to organise a radical presence within the existing labor union, trade unions. The organization was headed by l ...

, and the union began working frequently with the South Wales Miners Federation in supporting left-wing motions.Kevin Morgan, ''Roads to Freedom'', p.86

General Secretaries

:1870: Timothy Mountjoy :1877: ''Post vacant'' :1886: George Henry Rowlinson :1918: Herbert Booth :1922: Jack Williams

References

{{National Union of Mineworkers (UK) Trade unions established in 1870 Mining trade unions National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain) Politics of Gloucestershire Mining in Gloucestershire 1870 establishments in England Trade unions based in Gloucestershire

General Secretaries

See also

References