Lancashire and Cheshire Miners' Federation

[2] The coal owners were not sympathetic and when the men went on strike to assert their right to organise, William Hulton issued a pamphlet condemning his workforce who he considered had: "wantonly injured me to the fll limits of your ability, in my purse, and you have much farther wounded my feelings".

It supported the commission headed by Lord Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury and the passing of the Coal Mines Act 1842 which prohibited all females and boys under ten from working underground.

[6] Opposition from the coal owners did not prevent the association recruiting members and 98 lodges were formed in Lancashire and Cheshire by October 1843.

The Lancashire and Cheshire Miners' Federation was founded in 1881 in the aftermath of a bitter seven-week strike that was frequently violent.

Thomas Ashton, secretary of the Ashton-under-Lyne area, organised a meeting at the old Manchester Town Hall that led to the merger of several district unions on the Lancashire Coalfield.

Sam Woods was elected the miners' agent and needed to unite the districts so that the fledgling union did not disintegrate.

[9] In 1888, the union called a national conference, which led to the formation of the Miners Federation of Great Britain (MFGB) the following year.

[19] Stephen Walsh was appointed agent of the LCMF in 1901 and, sponsored by the federation, fought for and won the Ince seat at the 1906 General Election.