Lewis Jones (28 December 1897 – 27 January 1939) was a writer and left-wing political activist, born in

Clydach Vale Clydach Vale ( and adjoining ''Blaenclydach'') is a village in the Community (Wales), community of Cwm Clydach, northwest of Tonypandy in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the Rhondda Valley, Wales. It is named for its situation on ...

in industrialised South Wales.Davies (2008), pg427. Although his novels are more studied by academics now than by general readers, Jones occupies an honourable place in the history of

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

politics in Britain, and in the ranks of

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

writers. Like many young activists of his generation he attended the

Central Labour College The Central Labour College, also known as The Labour College, was a British higher education institution supported by trade unions. It functioned from 1909 to 1929. It was established on the basis of independent working class education. The colle ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

from 1923–25, where he joined the

Communist Party of Great Britain The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...

. During the

1926 General Strike The 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom was a general strike that lasted nine days, from 4 to 12 May 1926. It was called by the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British government ...

he was imprisoned for three months in

Swansea Prison HM Prison Swansea (Welsh: ) is a Category B/C men's prison, located in the Sandfields area of Swansea, Wales. The prison is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. History Swansea is a Victorian prison built between 1845 and 1861 to replace ...

for his

trade union 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 ...

activities in the

Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire (; abbreviated ''Notts.'') is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. The county is bordered by South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west. Th ...

coalfield. Once back at the pits, he became chairman and then checkweighman of the Cambrian Lodge of the

South Wales Miners Federation The South Wales Miners' Federation (SWMF), nicknamed "The Fed", was a trade union for coal miners in South Wales. It survives as the South Wales Area of the National Union of Mineworkers. Forerunners The Amalgamated Association of Miners (AA ...

. Although often seen as a lesser post to that of Lodge Chairman, in a time of industrial unrest the checkweighman was a vital part of the miners' protection against employers using

piece work Piece work or piecework is any type of employment in which a worker is paid a fixed piece rate for each unit produced or action performed, regardless of time. Context When paying a worker, employers can use various methods and combinations of m ...

rules to drive down wages, and it was a role in which Jones was likely to routinely come into conflict with management. In 1929, he resigned, refusing to work with ' scab' (non-unionised) labour. He remained unemployed for the rest of his life, although, he was likely to be permanently busy on political business. He was extremely popular amongst the rank-and-file Party members, but his association with "Hornerism" (

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

s working within established trades unions), his turbulent private life and his distrust of the

cult of personality A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader,Cas Mudde, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create ...

(he was sent home from the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

for ignoring a standing ovation to

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

) meant that he was repeatedly suspended and disciplined by the Party. As the Welsh organiser for the

National Unemployed Workers Movement The National Unemployed Workers' Movement was a British organisation set up in 1921 by members of the Communist Party of Great Britain. It aimed at drawing attention to the plight of unemployed workers during the post-First World War slump, the ...

, widely regarded as a

Communist front A communist front (or a mass organization in communist parlance) is a political organization identified as a front organization, allied with or under the effective control of a communist party, the Communist International or other communist organ ...

, he led the

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

, 1934 and 1936

hunger marches Hunger marches are a form of protest, social protest that arose in the United Kingdom during the early 20th century. Often the marches involved groups of men and women walking from areas with high unemployment to London where they would protest ou ...

to London. Also in 1936, he was elected as one of the two Communist members on to the

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

County Council. In South Wales at this time his attachment to the Communist Party would not have harmed his reputation as a political activist and leader. Lewis Jones died on 27 January 1939 at the end of a day in which he addressed over 30 meetings in support of the republican side of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

.Hopkins (1975), pg70. He is buried at ''Trealaw Cemetery'' in

Trealaw Trealaw is a long village, also a Community (Wales), community and electoral ward in the Rhondda, Rhondda Valley, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It stretches over from the junction of Cemetery Road and Brithweunydd Road in the east, to the junction o ...

. His books provide a description of life in a Welsh mining community of their time; there is an awareness of the crisis of masculinity that mass unemployment brought home to those communities, and the description of workers in struggle with their employers is unflinching in its acknowledgement of defeat as well as victory.

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Lewis 1897 births 1939 deaths Members of Glamorgan County Council Communist Party of Great Britain councillors Marxist writers Communist writers People from Clydach Vale Welsh communists Welsh novelists 20th-century British writers 20th-century Welsh novelists 20th-century Welsh politicians 20th-century British politicians

Further reading

Bibliography

References