Welsh Journals

DAVID MORGAN ('DAI O'R NANT'), MINERS' AGENT: A PORTRAIT OF LEADERSHIP IN THE SOUTH WALES COALFIELD A REGIONAL industrial Klondike was created in the south Wales coalfield during the second half of the nineteenth century, increasingly dominated by powerful colliery companies. Between 1851 and 1901 the workforce rose from 31,373 to 150,412, leading to the rapid growth of the mining communities of the valleys. Capital and labour co-existed uneasily. While wages, working hours and oppressive conditions pre- sented potential flashpoints in the relations between coalowners and miners, unity became the key imperative. For the colliers, organized action was determined not so much by their collective strength as by the calibre of popular leadership. Individual leaders came from within the community, chosen on the basis of character and personal qualities; they were the men deemed best able to defend the workers' interests. Bolstered by trade union membership, the post of miners' agent, in particular, acquired considerable influence which often extended to involvement in both social and political issues. To a great degree, the prospects of the thousands who toiled in the pits, to say nothing of the welfare of workmen's families, rested upon the effective leadership of those who championed their cause. At the start of the 1870s, trade union activists from the north of England guided the way. Visits by prominent figures, principally Thomas Halliday, provided the catalyst that led to the appearance of the first of the indigenous leaders. Foremost among these were William Abraham (Mabon), David Morgan (Dai o'r Nant), John Prosser, Isaac Evans and 1 For the wider context, the standard studies are E. W Evans, The Miners of South Wales (Cardiff, 1961), and R. Page Arnot, South Wales Miners, 1898-1914 (London, 1967). On the theme of leadership, see P. Stead, 'Working-class leadership in South Wales, 1900-1920', ante, 6 (3) (1973), 329-53, and D. Smith, 'Leaders and led', in K. S. Hopkins (ed.), Rhondda Past and Future (Ferndale, 1975), pp. 37-65.