Robert Isherwood (1845 - 1905) was a miner's agent, local councillor and the first treasurer of the

Lancashire and Cheshire Miners' Federation The Lancashire and Cheshire Miners' Federation (LCMF) was a trade union that operated on the Lancashire Coalfield in North West England from 1881 until it became the Lancashire area of the National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain), National U ...

. Robert Isherwood was the son of a handloom weaver in

Tyldesley Tyldesley () is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Lancashire, it is north of Chat Moss near the foothills of the Wes ...

. He started pit work at the age of nine. In 1867 Isherwood acted as the local secretary in an industrial dispute and 19-week strike that ended with victory for the miners. With savings from his earnings, he set up in business as a building contractor and grocer but did not sever his links with the miners. Isherwood was appointed secretary of the Leigh and District Miners' Association in 1875. After the death of William Pickard he became vice-president of the Lancashire and Cheshire Miners' Permanent Relief Society. He was treasurer of the

when it was formed in 1881 until his death in 1905. Realising that local miners had no place to meet, he was instrumental in building Tyldesley Miners' Hall which cost £2,500 in 1893. A Liberal in politics, he was a member of the Tyldesley

Local Board A local board of health (or simply a ''local board'') was a local authority in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulat ...

, a councillor for Tyldesley Urban District and its chairman in 1897–1898. Isherwood died in January, 1905. On the day of his funeral, the streets between his home and Tyldesley Top Chapel were lined with mourners. Deputations and officials from local pits and branches affiliated to the LCMF attended the cemetery. Isherwood was well-respected in mining communities and the union movement. A 12 feet 4 inch high monument made of Aberdeen granite weighing eight tons and costing £150 was erected to Robert Isherwood's memory in Tyldesley cemetery. The monument was unveiled by Enoch Edwards M. P., President 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' ...

in recognition of his services to the miners of the district.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Isherwood, Robert 1845 births 1905 deaths Trade unionists from the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan People from Wigan