The Yorkshire Miners and the 1893 Lockout: The Featherstone “Massacre”*

Robert G. Neville

doi:10.1017/S0020859000005290

The Yorkshire Miners and the 1893 Lockout: The Featherstone “Massacre”*

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 December 2008

Robert G. Neville

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During the last week in July 1893, the largest industrial dispute Britain had hitherto experienced was initiated when over 300,000 miners in the Federated District stopped work. The Yorkshire miners played an important part in the lockout which was the first major trial of strength which the Miners' Federation of Great Britain had to face. The significant role of Yorkshire's pitmen in the dispute was not surprising since the colliers of the West Riding had taken a leading part in the formation of the MFGB only four years earlier, and the Yorkshire Miners' Association formed the cornerstone of the new organization. The stoppage occasioned extremely little violence, except in the West Riding, where a series of turbulent incidents plunged many of the mining districts into a state of anarchy and mob rule. The climactic event occurred at Featherstone when two miners were shot dead by the army. It is the aim of this article to examine the civil disorders which resulted from the lockout in Yorkshire, and to present an analysis of the Featherstone “Massacre” together with an assessment of the way in which the authorities handled the disturbances.

Type: Research Article
Information: International Review of Social History , Volume 21 , Issue 3 , December 1976 , pp. 337 - 357

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020859000005290 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis 1976

References

^{page 337 note 1} Twenty-one million working days were lost. Clegg, H. A., Fox, A. and Thompson, A. F., A History of British Trade Unions since 1889, I (Oxford, 1964), p. 107.Google Scholar

^{page 337 note 2} The Federated District was comprised of the following coalfields: Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cheshire, Staffordshire, Worcestershire, Cannock Chase and Shropshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, South Derbyshire and Leicestershire, Forest of Dean, Radstock, Bristol, Warwickshire, North Wales, Stirlingshire and Monmouth.

^{page 337 note 3} Arnot, R. P., The Miners: A History of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain 1889–1910 (1949), pp. 91–109Google Scholar; cf. Neville, R. G., “The Yorkshire Miners 1881– 1926: A Study in Labour and Social History” (Leeds Ph.D., 1974), pp. 118–47.Google Scholar

^{page 338 note 1} For a general survey of the 1893 lockout see Arnot, op. cit., pp. 219–65. Regional studies of the dispute can be found in Williams, J. E., The Derbyshire Miners: A Study in Industrial and Social History (1962), pp. 314–43Google Scholar; Griffin, A. R., The Miners of Nottinghamshire: A History of the Nottinghamshire Miners' Association, I (Nottingham, 1956), pp. 87–103Google Scholar; id., Mining in the East Midlands 1550–1947 (1971) pp. 148–49; Challinor, R., The Lancashire and Cheshire Miners (Newcastle upon Tyne, 1972), pp. 196–200Google Scholar; Neville, op. cit., pp. 175– 237. For many years an interesting, but perhaps unnecessarily protracted, debate took place in the Bulletin of the Society for the Study of Labour History as to whether the 1893 lockout was a victory or a defeat for the miners. Shortage of space precludes a consideration of this controversy here, and I merely direct readers to the appropriate sources: Griffin, A. R., “The 1893 Lockout”, in: Bulletin, Nos 5 (1962) and 25 (1972)Google Scholar; cf. J. E. Williams, ibid., Nos 4 (1962), 5, 24 (1972) and 25; see also Neville, op. cit., pp. 227–37 and 247–65.

^{page 338 note 2} Gibson, F. A., A Compilation of Statistics of the Coal Mining Industry (Cardiff, 1922), p. 157.Google Scholar

^{page 338 note 3} Barnsley Chronicle, 22 June 1893.

^{page 338 note 4} Some confusion existed at the time, and continues to exist, about the percentage reduction demanded by the owners, which, of course, applied to wage rates and not to earnings. The employers demanded a reduction of 25% from the 1888 rates. Since miners' wage rates in the Federated District had increased by 40% since 1888, the demand amounted to an 18% reduction from the 1893 rates.

^{page 338 note 5} Report of the Committee Appointed to Inquire into the Circumstances Connected with the Disturbances at Featherstone on September 7, 1893 [C. 7234] (1893), qq. 22–23, p. 3Google Scholar, of the Minutes of Evidence, which formed a separate section. Hereafter referred to as the Bowen Report and Bowen Commission, respectively.

^{page 339 note 1} Bowen Commission, Appendix IV, pp. 127–28.Google Scholar

^{page 339 note 2} Report of Superintendent Shipley to the Chief Constable of the West Riding, 24 September 1893, Featherstone Riots Manuscripts, West Yorkshire Record Office, Wakefield.

^{page 339 note 3} Barnsley Chronicle, 2 September 1893.

^{page 339 note 4} Ibid., 9 September 1893.

^{page 339 note 5} On the Luddites see J. L., and Hammond, Barbara, The Skilled Labourer, 1760–1832 (1919)Google Scholar; Darvall, F. O., Popular Disturbances and Public Order in Regency England (1934)Google Scholar; Hobsbawm, E. J., “The Machine Breakers”, in: Past & Present, No 1 (1952)CrossRef Google Scholar, reprinted in Labouring Men (London, 1964).Google Scholar A popular account of Yorkshire Luddism is Berry, J., The Luddites in Yorkshire (Clapham via Lancaster, 1970).Google Scholar On Chartism see Challinor, R. and Ripley, B., The Miners' Association: A Trade Union in the Age of the Chartists (1968)Google Scholar; Mather, F. C., Public Order in the Age of the Chartists (1959)Google Scholar; id.. Chartism (Historical Association, 1965)Google Scholar; Chartist Studies, Ed. by A. Briggs (1959).Google Scholar

^{page 340 note 1} The YMA was the third largest trade union in the country in 1893. Only the Amalgamated Society of Engineers and the Durham Miners' Association were larger. Ensor, R. C. K., England 1870–1914 (Oxford, 1936), p. 298.Google Scholar

^{page 340 note 2} Bowen Commission, q. 39, p. 3.

^{page 340 note 3} Miners who continued working during a strike or lockout.

^{page 340 note 4} Bowen Commission, qq. 38 and 57, p. 3. The total number of policemen was 1,049 and 259 constables were sent to the races.

^{page 341 note 1} Ibid., q. 11, p. 2.

^{page 341 note 2} Barnsley Chronicle, 9 September 1893.

^{page 341 note 3} Bowen Commission, Appendix III, p. 125Google Scholar; Yorkshire Evening Post, 19 02 1912Google Scholar; Hudson, G. S., The Aberford Railway and the History of the Garforth Collieries (Newton Abbott, 1971), p. 139.Google Scholar

^{page 341 note 4} Bowen Commission, Appendix III, p. 125Google Scholar; Barnsley Chronicle, 9 September 1893.

^{page 341 note 5} Neville, op. cit., pp. 186ff.

^{page 342 note 1} Ibid., p. 190; Whitham's Almanack, 1893, pp. 21–23.

^{page 342 note 2} Report of Superintendent Joseph Stansfield, Number 12 Division, Leeds, to the Chief Constable, 5 September 1893, Featherstone Riots Manuscripts.

^{page 342 note 3} Bowen Commission, Appendix III, p. 125Google Scholar; Barnsley Chronicle, 9 September 1893.

^{page 343 note 1} YMA Minutes, 4 September 1893. In the possession of the National Union of Mineworkers, Yorkshire Area, Miners' Offices, Bamsley.

^{page 344 note 1} Whitham's Almanack, 1893, p. 26.

^{page 344 note 2} For a detailed account of these disturbances see Neville, op. cit., pp. 191ff.; Whitham's Almanack, 1893, pp. 17–27. A popular but valuable account of the rioting is to be found in the Yorkshire Evening Post, 9, 10, 11 and 12 December 1974, viz., D. Naylor, “The Darkest Summer”. For a voluminous collection of newspaper cuttings relating to the disorders see Ackton Hall and Featherstone Collieries Manusciipts, Goodchild Loan Manuscripts, Wakefield Metropolitan District Archives, and Newton Chambers and Co. Ltd. Manuscripts, Sheffield Central Library. The total amount of claims for compensation under the Riot Damages Act of 1886 by Yorkshire colliery owners from August to October 1893 came to £11,332, and the claim put forward by the Wath Main Colliery, Co. Ltd. for the damage at their pit on 6 September amounted alone to £7, 180. See list of claims for compensation under the Riot Damages Act, 1886, in respect of damage arising out of colliery riots in the West Riding in August, September and October 1893, Featherstone Riots Manuscripts.

^{page 344 note 3} See, for example, Earl Fitzwilliam to his mother in Ireland, 9 09 1893Google Scholar, Fitzwilliam Papers, Wentworth Woodhouse Muniments, Sheffield Central Library.

^{page 344 note 4} Barnsley Chronicle, 9 September 1893.

^{page 345 note 1} For a more thorough account see Neveille, op. cit., pp. 197–205.

^{page 345 note 2} The fact that the colliery was left unprotected is surprising since it had recently been the subject of considerable capital investment. Wakefield Express, 8 September 1893.

^{page 345 note 3} Bo wen Report, p. 3.

^{page 345 note 4} Ibid., p. 2.

^{page 345 note 5} Ibid., p. 4.

^{page 345 note 6} Ibid.

^{page 346 note 1} Ibid., p. 5.

^{page 346 note 2} Bowen Commission, q. 1252, p. 35.

^{page 346 note 3} Ibid., qq. 1253–54, p. 35.

^{page 346 note 4} Wakefield Express, 8 September 1893.

^{page 346 note 5} Bowen Commission, qq. 1114–27, p. 32.

^{page 346 note 6} D. Ashton and B. Lewis, final draft of an unpublished book concerning the Featherstone “Massacre”.

^{page 347 note 1} Wakefield Express, 8 September 1893.

^{page 347 note 2} Ashton and Lewis, op. cit.

^{page 347 note 3} Bowen Commission, q. 1302, p. 36.

^{page 347 note 4} Ibid., qq. 1312–13, p. 36.

^{page 347 note 5} Wakefield Express, 8 September 1893.

^{page 347 note 6} There were reports in the Daily Chronicle and Manchester Guardian, 9 September 1893, that a third man called Tomlinson had died, and the Sheffield Telegraph, 9 September 1893, contended that a third man called Perkins had died. Ashton and Lewis, op. cit. In the official evidence, however, it was reported that only two men were killed.

^{page 347 note 7} Bowen Commission, q. 1422, p. 39.

^{page 347 note 8} No accurate statistics for the size of the crowd are available, but one corporal estimated that there were between 10,000 and 12,000 people present at the colliery. This may have been an exaggeration, but the official figure of 3,000 was probably a low estimate.

^{page 348 note 1} YMA Minutes, 13 September 1893.

^{page 348 note 2} Leeds Express, 14 September 1893.

^{page 348 note 3} Ashton and Lewis, op. cit.

^{page 348 note 4} Ibid.

^{page 348 note 5} Ibid.

^{page 348 note 6} An Inquisition taken at Featherstone in the County of York on view of the body of James Gibbs, dated 9, 12 and 13 September 1893, Featherstone Riots Manuscripts.

^{page 349 note 1} Ibid.

^{page 349 note 2} House of Commons Debates, Fourth Series, XVII, cc. 1719–29.

^{page 349 note 3} Lord Charles Synge Christopher Bowen, 1835–94, one of the most distinguished nineteenth-century legal minds.

^{page 349 note 4} Richard Burdon Haldane, 1856–1928.

^{page 349 note 5} John Frith, 1837–1904, secretary of the South Yorkshire Miners' Association, 1876–1881, and financial secretary of the YMA, 1881–1904.

^{page 350 note 1} Barnsley Chronicle, 9 September 1893.

^{page 350 note 2} Bowen Commission, qq. 350–58, p. 13.

^{page 350 note 3} House of Commons Debates, Fourth Series, XVII, c. 1719.

^{page 350 note 4} Bowen Report, p. 9.

^{page 350 note 5} Ibid.

^{page 350 note 6} Bowen Commission, qq. 1221–23, p. 3+.

^{page 350 note 7} See J. J. Terrett, The Right Hon. H. H. Asquith, M.P., and the Featherstone Massacre (Social Democratic Federation, 1906), p. 11Google Scholar (Leeds City Library).

^{page 351 note 1} Bovven Commission, q. 1211, p. 34.

^{page 351 note 2} Ibid.

^{page 351 note 3} Ashton and Lewis, op. cit.

^{page 351 note 4} Ibid.

^{page 351 note 5} Neville, op. cit., pp. 194–95.

^{page 352 note 1} Bowen Report, p. 9.

^{page 352 note 2} Ibid.

^{page 352 note 3} Ashton and Lewis, op. cit.

^{page 352 note 4} Bowen Commission, q. 5312, p. 121.

^{page 352 note 5} Ashton and Lewis, op. cit.

^{page 353 note 1} Bowen Commission, qq. 1421–23, p. 39.

^{page 353 note 2} Ibid., q. 1424, p. 39.

^{page 353 note 3} Ibid., qq. 5316–18, p. 122.

^{page 353 note 4} I have been unable to establish whether or not the War Office later examined this question.

^{page 353 note 5} Terrett, op. cit., pp. 7 and 20.

^{page 353 note 6} Ibid., pp. 18–19.

^{page 353 note 7} Ashton and Lewis, op. cit.

^{page 354 note 1} R. Jenkins, Asquith (1964), pp. 27–28.

^{page 354 note 2} Ibid., p. 74.

^{page 354 note 3} Terrett, op. cit., p. 17.

^{page 354 note 4} Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham, 1852–1936.

^{page 354 note 5} Samuel Woods, 1846–1915, Vice-President of the MFGB, 1889–1909.

^{page 354 note 6} Terrett, op. cit., p. 17.

^{page 354 note 7} Jenkins, op. cit., p. 74.

^{page 355 note 1} Barnsley Chronicle, 16 September 1893.

^{page 356 note 1} T. R. Gainsford to Captain Russell, the Chief Constable of the West Riding, 8 September 1893, Featherstone Riots Manuscripts.

^{page 356 note 2} Earl Fitzwilliam to his mother, 9 and 15 September 1893, Fitzwilliam Papers.

^{page 356 note 3} Barnsley Chronicle, 16 September 1893.

^{page 356 note 4} Ibid.

^{page 356 note 5} Miscellaneous letters to the Chief Constable of the West Riding, Featherstone Riots Manuscripts.

^{page 357 note 1} For a detailed account of the social deprivation experienced by Yorkshire miners and their families during the 1893 stoppage see Neville, op. cit., pp. 220– 22, cf. Naylor, op. cit.; Yorkshiie Evening Post, 12 December 1974.

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