Author: ian wright

David Organ (1876 – 1954) was born in Oldcroft in West Dean, the son of a farm labourer. He started work in one of the Parkend collieries at the age of thirteen. Organ married Kate Phipps, the daughter of a local stonemason in September 1896. Soon after their marriage, they moved to Derby where Organ worked as a railway porter. They then moved to Rotherham where their first two children were born. However, in 1900, the family returned to the Forest and moved into a small cottage in Pillowell and Organ gained work at Norchard Colliery in Lydney as a coal hewer. The family supplemented their income by selling confectionary and fish and chips. In 1911, Organ was working as a checkweighman at Norchard Colliery and remained in this post until he retired from colliery work in 1939. In the December 1913 election of officers for the FDMA Executive, Organ was elected Vice President, a role he held until 1919.  In 1917, his family moved to a larger house just down the road from their old one. By this time the family had grown to ten children. He was elected President of the FDMA in 1919, a post he held until 1939.[1]

[1] These biographical details have been taken from David M Organ, The Life and Times of David Richard Organ, Leading the Forest Miners’ Struggle, (Cheltenham: Apex, 2011).

Jesse Miles (1894-1971) was born in Bream the son of a miner. He worked at Princess Royal colliery. He married Ruth Davies in 1915 and had four children.

Albert Meek (1898 -1984) was born in Cinderford the son of a miner who died at the age of 50 from silicosis. On leaving school at 13 years of age he went to work as a hodder at Crump Meadow colliery. He worked his way up to be a picker-up and then a filler and finally as a hewer working on an 18-inch seam. In 1921 he was working as a hewer at Foxes Bridge and then as a colliery timber cutter on the surface at Waterloo and then returned to work at Crump Meadow.

He married Rose Elton in February 1922. In 1924, he joined the Miners Minority Movement. He was joint secretary, with Jesse Hodges, of the Cinderford Strike Committee during the 1926 lockout. After the lockout, he was backlisted for seventeen months before returning to work at Waterloo. He then returned to work at Crump Meadow and when it closed in 1929, he went to work at Foxes Bridge which was also coming to the end of its life. Within a year or two he was laid off again and decided to give up pit work. He then took up work as a civil servant in the department of employment.[1]

[1] Interview with Albert Meek by Elsie Olivey on 6 April 1983, Gage library.

Frank Matthews (1878 – 1946) was born in Coalway, the son of a carpenter. He married Alice Burford in 1904 and had six children. In 1901 and 1911, he was working as a hewer in the mines and was living at Broadwell. By 1919, he was working at Cannop colliery as a checkweighman and was elected as the Cannop representative on the FDMA Executive and continued in this role during the 1926 Lockout. He was expelled from the FDMA in October 1926 after returning to work before the end of the strike. However, the expulsion was rescinded and he continued in his role as a checkweighman at Cannop  until his retirement.

Charles Mason (1889-1945) was born in Brierley and started work in the mines soon after leaving school. He married Margaret Daniels in 1909 and had seven children, including the celebrated Forest author Winifred Foley. In 1922 he was elected to East Dean District Council and in 1923 he was elected as a Poor Law Guardian on the Westbury Board of Guardians. He was elected to the FDMA Executive Committee in 1919.  He was killed in an accident at Northern United colliery in 1945.

Charles Luker (1885 – 1970) was born in Chepstow  Workhouse. His  father worked as a fish dealer. By 1901, the family had moved to Whitecroft where his father sold fish from the back of his cart. As a boy, Luker started work as a trammer in the mines and by 1911 he had started working as a hewer at the Crown Colliery. He married Esther Phipps in 1912 and had two children. In 1919, he was elected as Secretary of the FDMA and as an FDMA representative on the Gloucester Employment Committee. The following year, the post of Secretary and Treasurer of the FDMA were combined to form the role of Financial Secretary and Thomas Etheridge took over the role. In 1921, Luker was working as a hewer at Princess Royal Colliery and was elected to the political committee of FDMA Executive whose job was to liaise with the labour party.

In October 1922, he was appointed as election agent and secretary of the Forest of Dean Labour Party which were paid posts and he continued in the role until the 1950s. In the 1920s, Luker also worked part-time as an insurance agent and became active within local government.

In 1922, he was elected to the board of the Forest of Dean School managers.  In March 1922 he was elected as a County Councillor, in which role he continued up to the 1950s. In 1923 he was elected as a West Dean Rural District councillor and by 1926, he was Chairman of West Dean Rural District Council, a role he held up to the 1950s.

Richard Kear (1876 – 1949) was born in Oldcroft, West Dean, the son of a miner. In 1891, at the age of 15, he was working as a general labourer and then started work at New Fancy as a hewer. He married Martha James in 1900 and went on to have eight children. In 1921, he was working as a hewer at New Fancy Colliery and he represented New Fancy on the FDMA Executive where he fulfilled the role of auditor for several years. He was a Primitive Methodist preacher who was “known in the Forest as a clear, earnest and intelligent local preacher”.[1]

[1] Dean Forest Guardian March 1914 quoted in Averil Kear, Bermuda Dick, (Lydney: Lightmoor, 2002) 146.

Raymond S Jones (1885 – 1967) was born in Yorkley, the son of a miner. He married Susan Watkins in 1912 and had two children and lived in Pillowell. He started work at New Fancy in 1897. He was a member of the FDMA Executive from 1924.

He was a member of the Forest of Dean Coal Production Committee during World War Two and worked at New Fancy until the pit closed in 1944. In 1950 he was a member of the Forest of Dean School Managers.

William David Jenkins (1903 – 1973) was born in Staunton near Coleford, the son of a miner. He married Winfred Bloxham in 1933 and worked as a miner at Cannop. He was Vice-Chairman of the FDMA in 1939 and 1940 and a member of the Forest of Dean Coal Production Committee during World War Two. In 1943 he was appointed as the Regional Investigation Officer working for the Ministry of Labour tracking absenteeism under the Essential Work Orders (EWO). In 1946, he was chair of the Coleford Branch of the WEA. In 1949, he was a member of West Dean Rural District Council representing the Labour Party for Broadwell and also elected onto Gloucestershire County Council in 1949 representing the Labour Party for Coleford. In 1950 he was the Labour Officer on the local NCB and a member of the Forest of Dean School Managers. He lived at 30 Woodville Avenue, Mile End.