Midland Counties Miners' Federation

Midland Counties Miners' Federation
Founded	1886
Dissolved	30 June 2011
Headquarters	Hednesford, Staffordshire
Location	United Kingdom;
Members	35,600 (1907)
Key people	Enoch Edwards (President); Albert Stanley (Secretary)
Parent organization	Miners' Federation of Great Britain (1889–1944); National Union of Mineworkers (1944–2011)
Affiliations	Miners' Federation of Great Britain

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.^[2] It affiliated to the Miners' Federation of Great Britain.^[3]

By 1893, the federation's affiliates also included the Bristol Miners' Association, Forest of Dean Miners' Association, Somerset Miners' Association, and Warwickshire Miners' Association.^[4]^[5] 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.^[6]

In 1945, the union became the Midland Area of the National Union of Mineworkers, with less autonomy than before. It dissolved in 2011.^[7]

Name	Founded	Joined	Members (1907)
Cannock Chase Miners', Enginemen's and Surfacemen's Association	1876	1886	7,500^[8]
North Stafford Miners' Association	1869	1886	16,709^[8]
Old Hill and Highley District Miners', Enginemen's and Surfacemen's Association	1870	1886	1,116^[9]
Pelsall District Miners' Association	1887	1887	6,120^[8]
Shropshire Miners' Association	1886	1886	1,600^[8]
Warwickshire Miners' Association	1885	1890s	9,000^[8]
West Bromwich Miners' Association	1869	1886	2,300^[8]