George Henry Jones (1884 – December 1958) was a British

trade unionist A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

and politician. Born in

Hednesford Hednesford ( () is a market town and civil parish in the Cannock Chase district of Staffordshire, England. The Cannock Chase area of natural beauty is to the north of the town. Hednesford is also to the north of Cannock and to the south of ...

, Jones began working as a pit-boy at an early age. He became active in the Cannock Chase Miners' Association, and was elected as its president in 1912. In 1914, he became the full-time general secretary and agent for the North Warwickshire Miners' Association, and then in 1919 became general secretary and agent for the larger

Warwickshire Miners' Association The Warwickshire Miners' Association was a trade union representing coal miners in the Warwickshire area of England. In 1885, the Newdegate family leased their Warwickshire coal mine to a Sheffield-based company, who attempted to cut costs by re ...

. Jones was also active in the Labour Party, serving on Tamworth Town Council, and he stood in the 1922 Tamworth by-election, taking a distant second place, with 31.2% of the vote. Eventually, he served as Mayor of Tamworth. At the

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

and

1935 United Kingdom general election The 1935 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 14 November 1935. It resulted in a second (though reduced) landslide victory for the three-party National Government, which was led by Stanley Baldwin of the Conservative Party a ...

s, he stood unsuccessfully in

Lichfield Lichfield () is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated south-east of the county town of Stafford, north-east of Walsall, north-west of ...

. In about 1930, Jones was elected as secretary of the Midland Miners' Federation, to which all his previous unions were affiliated; he remained leader of the Warwickshire Miners. He served on the executive of the

Miners' Federation of Great Britain The Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB) was established after a meeting of local mining trade unions in Newport, Wales, Newport, Wales in 1888. The federation was formed to represent and co-ordinate the affairs of local and regional miners' ...

(MFGB). He remained in post as the MFGB became the National Union of Mineworkers, but left his trade union posts in 1947, to become Labour Director of the West Midlands Coal Board, then in 1950 became its vice-chair. He retired in 1952, although he continued to serve as a part-time member of the board until his death, four years later.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, George Henry 1884 births 1958 deaths Labour Party (UK) councillors Labour Party (UK) parliamentary candidates British trade union leaders Mayors of places in Staffordshire People from Hednesford