The Somerset Miners' Association or Somersetshire Miners' Association was a

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

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 ...

based in the

Somerset coalfield The Somerset Coalfield in northern Somerset, England is an area where coal was mined from the 15th century until 1973. It is part of a larger coalfield which stretched into southern Gloucestershire. The Somerset coalfield stretched from Cromh ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, England. The union was founded in 1872 as a section 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 ...

. However, the AAM collapsed in 1875, and the union survived only on a much reduced basis, led by B. Fish and with a presence only in

Radstock Radstock is a town and civil parish on the northern slope of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, England, about south-west of Bath and north-west of Frome. It is within the area of the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset. The Radsto ...

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 ...

,
Bristol Historical Resource: Trade unions
In 1888, Samuel Henry Whitehouse, secretary of the

Midland Miners' Federation The Midland Counties Miners' Federation was a trade union, representing coal miners in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of England. History The union was founded in 1886. It initially had seven affiliates, including the North St ...

, accepted an invitation to become the full-time secretary and agent for the union. A local coal mine owner almost immediately took Whitehouse to court for supporting a strike, nearly bankrupting him personally, but he remained in post until 1917, greatly expanding the reach and membership of the association.Margaret 'Espinasse, ''Dictionary of Labour Biography'', vol.IV, pp.196-197 Always one of the smaller coal mining unions in England, membership being around 2,000 in the 1890s, and reaching a peak membership of 4,310 around 1910.Arthur Ivor Ryan and Victoria Marsh, ''Historical Directory of Trade Unions'', vol.I, p.247 The union 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 1888, 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 Forest of Dean Miners' Association. In 1937, the Bristol Miners' Association was merged into the Somerset Miners' Association, meaning that for the first time, one union covered all miners in Somerset.Archives Hub,
Somerset Miners' Association Archive
In 1945, the MFGB became the National Union of Mineworkers, and the Somerset Miners' Association became its West Country Area, with less autonomy than before. In 1956, due to a decline in mining in the county, the area was merged into the South Wales Area.

Secretaries

:1875: B. Fish :1888: S. H. Whitehouse :1917: Fred Swift :1945: David Llewellyn

References

{{National Union of Mineworkers (UK) Trade unions established in 1872 Trade unions disestablished in 1956 Mining trade unions National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain) Politics of Somerset Mining in Somerset 1872 establishments in England Trade unions based in Somerset