| Description | DOB: Ryhope, Durham, 1888
DOD: Unknown
Son of a miner. One of 5 children. Educated at Infants' School (1893-5).
Got married in 1920
Had 2 children
Lived in Ryhope; South Hetton, for 22 years
Christian, Methodist
First employment was on the coal screens, separating stones from coal (1901), but soon went underground to perform a variety of jobs as a child (ventilator operator; landing-minder; putter), and then worked as a miner for 42 years, 25 years as a deputy overman.
Lecturer at a Mine Training School (1948-53).
Member of Boys' Brigade; Primitive Methodist; Socialist; member of Labour Party and active trade unionist; miners' lodge representative for W.E.A.; member of Easington Board of Guardians; executive member of Durham Country Rechabites; local preacher; Sunday-school teacher and superintendent; held variety of church offices; secretary of Seaham Labour Party (1929-45); member of county council (1934), serving on various committies.
An account of a full and active life for the causes of labour (specifically, the miners) and christianity. Detailed descriptions are given of his efforts as an active trade unionist and socialist and of his 50 years as a Primitive Methodist lay preacher. His early life is of particular interest, with valuable observations on his two-roomed home; childhood games; experiences as a child mine-worker; and of industrial unrest in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. |