Born in Chevington, near Broomhill, Northumberland,[1] Edwards went down the coal mine at the age of 12.
In 1908, he attended Ruskin College in Oxford for ten months, but had to leave due to a lack of finances.
After leaving the course, he became an early member of the Plebs' League and began to espouse Marxism.
He narrowly missed election to Parliament at the 1918 Wansbeck by-election, standing as a local Labour Party candidate, losing to Robert Mason.
Long active in the Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB), Edwards was elected to increasingly important posts in the union.