Coal Miners
Which trade unions operated in the coalmining industry?
From the mid-19th century until 1945 coal miners were often members of regional trade unions, such as the Durham Miners鈥� Association, South Wales Miners鈥� Federation or the Warwickshire Miners鈥� Association. Although the regional unions were affiliated to a national body, the Miners鈥� Federation of Great Britain (MFGB), they kept their own separate legal and financial identities. This changed in 1945 with the restructuring of the MFGB into a new, more centralised union – the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM).
With the creation of the NUM in 1945, the regional unions became districts or areas of the national union rather than legally separate organisations. Many areas continued to have a strong local identity and their recordkeeping reflects this.
Regional records both before and after 1945 are often held by archives in the local area. Our guide to finding coal mining archives may help you to identify the right organisation to contact.
The Modern Records Centre doesn鈥檛 hold comprehensive national or regional membership records for mining trade unions, but we do have limited sources relating to two areas – Cumberland and Yorkshire - which can be used for family history research.
Cumberland
Cumberland Miners' Association / NUM Cumberland Area
The West Cumberland Miners' Association was founded in 1872, and renamed the Cumberland Miners' Association (CMA) in 1906. The CMA was a member of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB). When the MFGB was replaced by the more centralised National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in 1945, the Cumberland Miners' Association became the Cumberland Area of the NUM.
Central records
Minute books
Minutes of the executive include information about the work of senior union officials and may include brief references to union business involving individual members.
We hold .
Annual reports and accounts
We only hold the annual balance sheet and report for 1921. This includes a list of Cumberland Miners鈥� Association officials for 1922 and a list of names and addresses of Lodge Secretaries ().
Branch records
Compensation books
They include brief notes of compensation meetings, including information about medical compensation claims made by or on behalf of individual branch members (including for fatalities).
We have compensation books for , , and .
Minute books
Branch minute books can mention individual members who were either actively involved with the union (for example branch officials) or who were being represented by the union in connection with particular incidents or cases.
We have minutes for ; and .
Yorkshire
South Yorkshire Miners鈥� Association
The South Yorkshire Miners' Association (SYMA) was founded in Barnsley in 1858 and represented coal miners in what is now South Yorkshire (previously part of the West Riding) and northern Derbyshire. Derbyshire lodges split from the SYMA in 1880 to form a separate Derbyshire Miners' Association. In 1881 the South Yorkshire Miners' Association and West Yorkshire Miners' Association merged to form the Yorkshire Miners' Association (YWA).
Central records
Account books
The SYMA鈥檚 cash book, 1858-1864, and fortnightly income and expenditure accounts, 1869-1876, include brief references to payments of benefits to members and payments of wages / expenses to union officials. The volumes for and have been digitised.
Branch records
Registration books
Registration books contain names of members and, in some cases, names of members' wives and children (i.e. if they were registered with the union to receive benefits). Dates of birth can be included.
The MRC has registration books for the following branches:
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Contribution books
Contribution books contain accounts relating to the payment of membership contributions, including names of members.
The MRC has contribution books for the following branches:
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Removal clearance books
Removal clearance books record the transfer of members between branches. They include names of members, dates of entrance and of becoming financial members, names of lodges the clearance has come from, dates of clearance being granted, names of members' wives and children, and usually the dates or years of birth of members' wives and children.
The MRC has removal clearance books for the following branches:
- (digitised)
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West Yorkshire Miners鈥� Association
The West Yorkshire Miners' Association (WYMA) was formed in 1858 and represented coal miners in the West Riding of Yorkshire, particularly in the districts around Wakefield and Leeds. In 1881 the WYMA merged with the South Yorkshire Miners' Association to form the Yorkshire Miners' Association.
Central records
Minutes
Minutes of WYMA executive and council meetings between 1876-1881 are included in a scrapbook, together with accounts, circulars, leaflets and other items of ephemera. The minutes include information about the work of senior union officials and may include brief references to union business involving individual members (e.g. eligibility for benefits). This volume has been .
Branch records
Contribution books
Contribution books contain accounts relating to the payment of membership contributions, including names of members.
The MRC has a contribution book for the following branch:
- (digitised)
Yorkshire Miners鈥� Association / National Union of Mineworkers Yorkshire Area
The Yorkshire Miners' Association was formed in 1881 by the merger of the South Yorkshire Miners' Association and the West Yorkshire Miners' Association. It formally changed its name from the Yorkshire Miners' Association to the Yorkshire Mine Workers' Association in 1923.
The YMA was a founding member of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB) in 1889. When the MFGB was replaced by the more centralised National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) in 1945, the Yorkshire Miners' Association became the Yorkshire Area of the NUM.
The YMA / NUM Yorkshire Area archive includes thousands of documents in more than 500 boxes. The summary below is not a comprehensive list of all of the documents which may mention individuals, but it highlights some of the main sources about individual members available in the collection. More information about the archive can be found through our .
Central records
Minute books
include information about the work of senior union officials and may include brief references to union business involving individual members.
Compensation claims
The YMA / NUM Yorkshire Area archives include some surviving records relating to the payment of compensation to members injured or killed at work. Although the documents include information about many individuals, the union's archives do not contain a comprehensive record of every mineworker killed or injured over this period. Compensation claims were not always made immediately after an accident, so references to claims can sometimes appear a year or more after the accident took place.
Letter books
The YMA / NUM Yorkshire Area kept several series of ledgers which recorded letters sent between head office and branches.
These include:
A on individual 鈥榗ompensation cases鈥� dating between 1904-1909, 1932-1936, 1939-1959, which contain very brief summaries of correspondence about compensation for injuries or fatalities to named individuals.
A on cases under the National Insurance (Industrial Injuries) and Supplementary Scheme, dating between 1949-1955, 1957-1959.
A which record general correspondence between 1911-1952, arranged by branch. Brief references to individual branch members can also be included in these.
Registers of compensation and arbitration cases
The YMA / NUM Yorkshire Area also kept a series of registers which record basic information about and .
The earliest volumes have been digitised. Later volumes are affected by data protection restrictions as, in some cases, they include potentially sensitive information about named individuals who may still be alive.
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Unemployment
During the 1930s the YMA provided support for legal appeals regarding claims by individual members for unemployment benefits to be paid under the Unemployment Insurance Acts. The union's archive includes a which contains brief summaries of correspondence relating to individual cases between 1931-1936.
Victimisation
The YMA paid 'victims' or victimisation benefits to members who were put out of work for union activities. provide a financial record of payments to named 'victims' between 1905-1941, but do not give details about their individual cases. Brief information about victimisation cases may also be included in the union's .
- (digitised)
Military service
First World War
The MRC has one surviving 鈥榬egistration book鈥� from the First World War and immediate post-war period. The book records members whose deaths during military service were recorded with the union between 1918-1921 (including some men killed before 1918), and includes columns for date (of claim?), name, branch, service number and regiment, brief notes about death (e.g. 'Killed', 'Wounds', 'Presumed') and date of death. .
Reservists, 1939-1956
The MRC has several records which record members who were exempt from paying union contributions due to being called up for military service as reservists.
. This includes dates, names and membership numbers, with entries arranged by branch. Most entries date from 1939-1945. Lists of 'Exempt members who have died O.H.M.S. [On His Majesty's Service]', 1941-1946, are included at the back of the volume.
Papers relating to the call up of reservists to serve in , and , including branch lists of members
Branch membership records
Contribution books
Contribution books contain financial accounts relating to the payment of membership contributions, including names of branch members.
The MRC has contribution books for the following branches:
- Bruntcliffe, , (digitised - two volumes)
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- Darton Main, , , , (digitised - four volumes)
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- Hemsworth, 1909-1914, (one volume digitised)
- Howley Park, 1926-1929
- Hoyland Silkstone, two volumes for 1925-1929 ()
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- Mirfield, , (digitised - two volumes)
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- Ravensthorpe, 1914-1930, (one volume digitised)
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- Stanhope Silkstone, , (digitised - two volumes)
- , 1925-1929 (one volume digitised)
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- (digitised)
- (digitised)
- Wrenthorpe, , (digitised - two volumes)
- (digitised)
Death book
The YMA archive includes one branch 'death book'. This volume contains brief information about the deaths of men and women between 1888-1905, arranged alphabetically by surname. Most entries include references to the causes of death. The name of the branch isn't explicitly identified but at least five entries refer to deaths of men in accidents at Wharncliffe Silkstone colliery. A list of all the names included in the book is available through our .
Registers of members:
Membership information about members of the Winding Enginemen's branch of the NUM Yorkshire Area is included in two series of volumes. These documents are affected by data protection restrictions as, in some cases, they include potentially sensitive information about named individuals who may still be alive.
- Winding Enginemen, 1942-1969, [c.1964-1969], [c.1965-1967] ()
- Winding Enginemen No.1 / Doncaster Winders, 1967-1970, 1969-1971, 1971-1972 ()