South Derbyshire Miners' Association Explained

South Derbyshire Miners' Association
Location Country:United Kingdom
Founded:1888
Parent Organization:Miners' Federation of Great Britain (1888 - 1944)
National Union of Mineworkers (1945 - 1985)
Dissolved:6 December 1985
Merged:Union of Democratic Mineworkers
Headquarters:Weston Street, Swadlincote

The South Derbyshire Miners' Association was a trade union representing coal miners in the Derbyshire area of England.

The union was founded in 1888, and was originally known as the South Derbyshire Amalgamated Miners' Association.[1] By the following year, it had 2,140 members, although this fell to only 1,408 in 1898. Thereafter, it gradually rebuilt membership, which peaked at more than 6,000 in the 1920s.[2]

In 1889, the union was a founder constituent of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain.[3] In 1945, this became the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), and the union became its South Derbyshire Area, with less autonomy than before.

In 1985, the South Derbyshire Area split away from the NUM, to become a founder constituent of the new Union of Democratic Mineworkers.

General Secretaries

1888: William Buckley

1923: William Knight Smith

1928: Herbert Buck

c.1950: Harry Wileman

1965: Ken Toon

References

  1. Book: Page Arnot . Robin . The Miners . 1949 . Allen & Unwin.
  2. Book: John B. . Smethurst . Peter . Carter . Historical Directory of Trade Unions . 6 . 504, 512 . 9780754666837 . 80-151653 . June 2009 . Ashgate Publishing . Farnham .
  3. News: Miners' Conference at Newport. . 27 November 1889 . 6 April 2016 . subscription . ProQuest .