Born in Alnwick in Northumberland, Kane became an orphan when he was young and, as a result, left school at the age of seven to work in a tobacco factory.
Its collapse, later in the year, discouraged his workmates from future attempts at forming an association, but Kane remained keen, even as his gained promotions at work, to become a roller.
He was a founder member of Cowen's Northern Reform Union, and was a leading supporter of P. A. Taylor, its candidate in the 1859 UK general election.
Kane travelled around the North of England to help establish branches in other cities, and the union grew until 1864, when its members in Leeds were locked out by employers.
With the Associated Ironworkers dissolving, the reorganised union grew to 14,000 members by 1871, and 35,000 two years later, although it then went into a rapid decline, as there was a general downturn in the industry.