The Midland Counties Miners' Federation was a trade union, representing coal miners in the West Midlands region of England.

History The union was founded in 1886. It initially had seven affiliates, including the North Stafford Miners' Association, the Old Hill and Highley District Miners, Enginemen and Surfacemen's Association, the Pelsall District Miners, the Shropshire Miners' Association, and the West Bromwich District Miners.Robin Page Arnot, The Miners, vol.1, p.105 It affiliated to the Miners' Federation of Great Britain.Robin Page Arnot, The Miners, vol.1, p.251

By 1893, the federation's affiliates also included the Bristol Miners' Association, Forest of Dean Miners' Association, Somerset Miners' Association, and Warwickshire Miners' Association.Robin Page Arnot, The Miners, vol.1, p.224Roy Gregory, The Miners and British Politics 1906-1914, p.168 The first three of these accepted reductions in wages which went against federation policy, and therefore left in 1894, recombining as the South-Western Federation.Robin Page Arnot, The Miners, vol.1, p.298

In 1945, the union became the Midland Area of the National Union of Mineworkers, with less autonomy than before. It dissolved in 2011.Trade Union Certification Officer, "Annual Return for a Trade Union: National Union of Mineworkers (Midlands Area): 2010"

Affiliates Name Founded Joined Members (1907) Cannock Chase Miners', Enginemen's and Surfacemen's Association 1876 1886 7,500 North Stafford Miners' Association 1869 1886 16,709 Old Hill and Highley District Miners', Enginemen's and Surfacemen's Association 1870 1886 1,116 Figure is for 1910. Pelsall District Miners' Association 1887 1887 6,120 Shropshire Miners' Association 1886 1886 1,600 Warwickshire Miners' Association 1885 1890s 9,000 West Bromwich Miners' Association 1869 1886 2,300

Leadership Presidents 1886: Enoch Edwards 1912: Samuel Finney 1930s: F. J. Hancock 1941: John Blakemore? 1950s: Arthur Baddeley 1963: Jack Lally 1983: John Connon

Secretaries 1886: Samuel Henry Whitehouse 1888: Benjamin Dean 1890: Albert Stanley 1915: John Baker?

1930s: George Henry Jones 1948: J. H. Southall 1963: A. M. Jones

1983: Jim Colgan 1990s: Joe Wills

References