Author: ian wright

Jesse Hodges (Snr) (1880 – 1964) was born in Nailbridge, near Cinderford and was a son of a miner. He married Annie Matthews in 1901 and continued to live at Nailbridge. They had nine children, one of whom died from laryngitis. As a boy, he worked in an iron mine. He then moved to Crump Meadow colliery where he became a buttyman. In 1920-1922, he was elected as a Labour representative on East Dean District Council.  In 1925, he was elected as an assistant part-time checkweighman at Crump Meadow colliery.[1] He represented Crump Meadow on the FDMA Executive during the 1926 lockout and was the joint secretary of the Cinderford Strike Committee with Albert Meek. He was blacklisted for seventeen months after the end of the lockout.[2]

[1] Interview with Jesse Hodges’ son also called Jesse Hodges (born 1907)  by Elsie Olivey on 16 May 1983, Gage library.

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

William Hoare (1883 – 1959) was born in Bream, the son of Thomas Hoare, a stone cutter, and Sarah Pace. They had eight children including William. Sarah Pace had two other children, born in the Monmouth workhouse before marrying Thomas Hoare in 1873. Two of William’s siblings died as children. Thomas Hoare died in 1888. In 1890 Sarah married Joseph James, a hewer and moved to Drybrook. The family went on to have three more children and moved back to Bream.

In 1901 William Hoare, at the age of 17, was living with his family in Bream and working as a hewer. He then moved to work in the South Wales coalfield and, in October 1907, he married Ann Jones from Pontypool. In April 1908, Ann died, possibly in childbirth. Hoare then moved back to live with his mother’s family in Bream and worked as a hewer at Princess Royal colliery. In July 1918, he married Beatrice Morgan and had seven children. At this time, he was working at Norchard colliery but was sacked after a dispute with the management. He then gained work at Cannop Colliery and moved to Broadwell.. In 1919, he was sponsored by the FDMA to attend a two-year course at the Central Labour College in London.

After the 1921 Lockout, he was unemployed and helped set up the Coleford and West Dean Unemployed Committee with Tom Liddington. He then returned to work at Norchard and/or Princess Royal Collieries and was elected to the FDMA Executive. In 1925, he joined the Miners’ Minority Movement. After the 1926 lockout, he was blacklisted and then possibly moved to work in the Kent coalfield and then back to Bream to work as a road sweeper.[1]

[1] Thanks to Andrew Davies-Hoare, William Hoare’s grandson, for providing additional information.

Birt B Hinton (1918 -1998) was born on Palmer’s Flat the son of a quarryman. He then lived in Berry Hill and worked at Cannop. He married Florence Hook in 1939. He represented Cannop on the FDMA Executive and was associated with the communist party in the 1940s. In 1949, he was elected as a Labour Councillor for Broadwell for the West Dean Rural District Council and Vice Chairman of West Dean Parish Council.  After the retirement of John Williams Hinton took responsibility for local matters as chair of the Forest of Dean branch of the NUM.

Albert Hoare (1886-1967) was born in Bream, the son of a miner. He worked at Princess Royal colliery and married Amelia Johns in 1916.

Seefried Leonard (Len) Harris (1909-1968) was the younger brother of Jack Harris. He married Phyllis M Bolas in 1934 in Warwickshire.  He worked as a bricklayer at Northern United and was a member of the Cinderford branch of the CPGB. He also died in Warwickshire.

Amos James (Jack) Harris (1904-1982) was born in Cinderford, the son of a coal miner. In 1921 he was working at Foxes Bridge colliery with his father. In 1925 he was elected as secretary of the Forest of Dean Miners Minority Movement. He was arrested and fined for intimidating blacklegs during the 1926 lockout. In 1939 he was working as a colliery deputy near Coventry in Warwickshire where he died.

John Harper (1866-1947) was born in Ruardean, the son of a miner. He started work in the mines after leaving school. He soon became involved in the FDMA and by 1890 was a member of the FDMA Executive. He married Edith Griffiths in 1894 who died two years later. He then married Annie Wright and went on to have eight children. In 1911, he was working as a timberman at Waterloo colliery. In 1921 he was working as a collier labourer at Waterloo and soon after was elected as checkweighman. He represented Waterloo on the FDMA Executive until his retirement. He was a trustee for the free miners until his death. He was a leading member of the community of Ruardean and was involved in a range of community and welfare work.

Charles Fletcher (1892 – 1929) was born in Stroud. His father died in 1895 and he was brought up in Muller Orphanage in Bristol. As a teenager, he was sent to work on farms in the Forest including Longley and Trow Green where in 1911 he is recorded as living with the Teague family and working as a cowman. He joined the British Socialist Party in 1915. During the war, he moved to Chepstow and obtained work in the shipyards and latterly as a self-employed chimney sweep. In the early 1920s, he joined the Communist Party and then moved back to the Forest. In 1925, he was elected as Chairman of the Forest of Dean branch of the Miners’ Minority Movement. In 1926, he left the Communist Party and joined the Labour Party. He wrote articles on mining and industrial problems and was popular within the labour movement in the Forest and became a close friend of John Williams. He died aged 37 in 1929.