Edward Jones (24 February 1896 – 6 February 1978) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

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 ...

leader. Born in

Llangollen Llangollen () is a town and community (Wales), community, situated on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, in Denbighshire, Wales. Its riverside location forms the edge of the Berwyn range, and the Dee Valley section of the Clwydian Range and Dee Val ...

, in

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, Flintshire to the east, Wrexham to the southeast, Powys to the south, and Gwynedd and Conwy to the west. Rhyl is the largest town, and Ruthi ...

, Jones became an apprentice baker when he was fifteen, but later followed his father and elder brother into coal mining, working at Wynnstay, Gresford and then Llay Main. He joined the

North Wales Miners' Association The North Wales Miners' Association was a trade union representing coal miners in Wales. History The origins of the union lay in the North Wales District Meeting, a monthly meeting in Wrexham of representatives of workers from about sixteen collie ...

(NWMA), representing Llay Main on its council, and then becoming the union's president.Keith Gildart, "Jones, Edward ('Ted')", ''Dictionary of Labour Biography'', vol.XIV, pp.188–199 General Secretary of the NWMA, Hugh Hughes, died in 1932, and while it was temporarily run by the district executive, in 1934 it finally ran an election for his replacement. Jones defeated president Thomas Jones and Robert Ellis from Hafod to win the post. His first act was to rename the union as the "North Wales and Border Counties Mineworkers' Association". He worked to increase union membership, represented the union at inquiries into the

Gresford disaster The Gresford disaster () occurred on 22 September 1934 at Gresford Colliery, near Wrexham, when an explosion and underground fire killed 261 men. Gresford is one of Britain's worst coal mining disasters: a controversial inquiry into the disaster ...

, and led a largely unsuccessful five-week strike at Bersham. He managed to gradually build up a branch at Point of Ayr, leading eventually to the dissolution of the rival Point of Ayr Industrial Union. The NWMA was part 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' ...

, and in 1944 this became the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), with the NWMA becoming its North Wales Area. This meant less autonomy, but Jones came to greater national prominence, winning election to the national executive committee of the NUM, on which he was known as a right-winger. He was offered a post with the

National Coal Board The National Coal Board (NCB) was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the United Kingdom's collieries on "ve ...

in 1949, but turned it down as it would have meant moving away from Wales. By 1954, Jones was the longest-serving member of the NUM's executive, and he won election as the union's vice president. He defeated

Alex Moffat Alexander Everett Moffat (; born March 25, 1982) is an American actor and comedian. He was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2016 to 2022. In 2023, he made his Broadway debut in '' The Cottage''. Early ...

to retain the vice-presidency in both 1955 and 1959, and also served a term as secretary of the

Miners' International Federation The Miners' International Federation (MIF), sometimes known as the International Federation of Miners, was a global union federation of trade unions. History Wirtz (1962) documented that the Miners International Federation (MIF) 'had its origin i ...

. Following the death of president-elect

Alwyn Machen Joseph Robert Alwyn Machen (3 May 1900''1939 England and Wales Register'' – 2 March 1960) was an English trade union leader who was president of the Yorkshire Area of the National Union of Mineworkers and posthumously elected president of t ...

in 1960, Jones spent a few months as acting president of the union, retiring in 1961. In his spare time, Jones represented the Labour Party on Wrexham Borough Council, and was also a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Ted 1896 births 1978 deaths Councillors in Wales Labour Party (UK) councillors People from Llangollen Vice presidents of the National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain)