The History of the Yorkshire Miners, 1881-1918This detailed social history is concerned with the workers in the Yorkshire coal industry, their union, and the broader mining communities in which they lived from the formation of the Yorkshire Miners Association in 1881 through to the end of the First World War. The period covered is of considerable importance for the consolidation of the Yorkshire Miners Union, and indeed for the building of a national miners' federation and an international miners' organization, in both of which its role of Yorkshire's leadership was central. The decades straddling the turn of the century were characterized by considerable volatility in the mining industry, which was reflected in a number of strikes. This was also the period during which the eight-hour day was established, the issue of the minimum wage was fought out, and the miners turned toward affiliation with the Labour Party. Towards the end of the period, the union made its contribution to the war effort. Carolyn Baylies traces these general processes and focuses in detail upon a number of episodes during which union struggles and community involvement coalesced. She explores the dynamic between district and local levels of the union, and the tensions that accompanied a progressive rationalizion of bargaining machinery. While primarily tracing the fortunes and stance of the union, she also situates these in broader accounts of the development of mining communities and of the labour movement.
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