Author: ian wright

James Collins Birt (1886 – 1935) was born in Lydney, the son of a railwayman. His first job was working at a bakery and then he gained employment as a signalman on the railway. He married Jessie Barron in 1913 and had three children. He became active within the NUR and by 1918 was elected to the role of Secretary. In 1918, he was appointed as agent for the Forest of Dean Labour Party and was instrumental in getting James Wignall elected as a Labour MP in December 1918. At this time, he was also elected as a County Councillor. In October 1922, he emigrated to Canada with his family.

James Leonard Jones (1879-1966) was born in Cinderford in 1879, the son of a miner. In 1895, he obtained work on the railway working as a porter, first at Pen-y-Graig and then at Newnham. In 1898, he was promoted to the role of Goods Checker at Cinderford and remained in this role for most of his working life. He married Sarah Barnhard in 1905 and went on to have six children. He was a conductor for Cinderford Town Prize Brass Band which often played at trade union rallies. The Cinderford Branch of the NUR was formed in May 1914 with its headquarters at the Railway Hotel and Jones was elected as President. He was elected as a Labour councillor for East Dean Parish Council in 1917, a Labour councillor for East Dean Rural District Council in 1919 and was elected as a Labour County Councillor for Cinderford in 1922. He continued in various roles in local government in Cinderford for most of his life. He was appointed as a magistrate in October 1924. He was among the leaders of the Cinderford railway workers during the 1926 General Strike.

Enos Cooper Taylor (1862 – 1941) was born in Cinderford, the son of a miner. When he started work, he was trained to operate the engines at Foxes Bridge colliery. He was elected secretary of the Cinderford Lodge of the FDMA in 1897. He married Annie Baker in 1897 and had five children. He was appointed as checkweighman at Foxes Bridge  in 1901. In 1907 he also took on the role of the landlord of the Colliers Arms in Cinderford and his wife helped to run the pub. He was a board member of Cinderford Medical Aid Association and Cinderford Co-operative Society. He represented Foxes Bridge on the FDMA Executive from 1897 to 1926.

William Wilkins (1898-1980) was born in Cinderford the son of a miner. He married Evelyn Carpenter in 1920 and they had two boys one of whom died at the age of eight. Like most young boys in the Forest at the time, he obtained work in the mines. In 1921 he was working at Foxes Bridge colliery and then he worked at Waterloo colliery. In the 1920s, he was a member of the Miners Minority Movement.

In 1939, he took over from John Harper as FDMA representative for Waterloo but continued to work on the coal face. In the 1940s he was either a member or supporter of the Communist Party. In 1949, he was elected as a Labour local councillor on East Dean District Council for Pope’s Hill. He also was a Cinderford Town Councillor. He was elected chair of Cinderford Labour Party in 1951. At the time of the reorganisation of Local Authorities in 1974, he was on the Forest of Dean District Council.

Albert Wilding was born in Pontypool. He married Florence Phipps in 1907 and had 5 children. In 1921 he was working as a hewer at princess Royal colliery.

Leslie Sayes (1886 – 1966) was born in Fetter Hill, the son of Elijah Sayes who worked as a hewer at New Fancy colliery. On leaving school he joined the army and fought in World War One. He married Alice Barnes in 1914 and had one son. On returning from the war he worked for a while in South Wales at the Cwmam Owell Duffryn Colliery in Cwmerfyn . He returned to the Forest in the early 1920s and gained employment at Norchard and was its representative on the FDMA Executive in May 1927.  Sayes was a close friend of Beatrice Pace who was accused and aquitted of murdering her husband in 1928.

George Rowlinson (1852-1937.) was the agent for the FDMA from 1886 to 1918. A detailed biography and an account of his role as agent for the FDMA can be found in Ian Wright, Coal on One Hand, Men on the Other, The Forest of Dean Miners and the First World War 1910 – 1922 published by Bristol Radical History Group.

Timothy Ruck (1908 – 1981) was born in Cinderford, the son of a miner. He gained work in the mines. He married Marjorie Turley in 1938 and was secretary of the Cinderford Communist Party.

Holton Douglas (Elton) Reeks (1904 – 1974) was born in Bream, the son of a miner. In 1921 he was working at Princess Royal as an underground assistant roadman. He married Dulcie Miles in 1928 and had two daughters.  He continued working at Princess Royal and  was an active member of the FDMA.