Lewis Jones (28 December 1897 – 27 January 1939) was a writer and left-wing political activist, born in Clydach Vale in industrialised South Wales.
[1] Although his novels are more studied by academics now than by general readers, Jones occupies an honourable place in the history of left-wing politics in Britain, and in the ranks of socialist writers.
Although often seen as a lesser post to that of Lodge Chairman, in a time of industrial unrest the checkweighman was a vital part of the miners' protection against employers using piece work rules to drive down wages, and it was a role in which Jones was likely to routinely come into conflict with management.
As the Welsh organiser for the National Unemployed Workers Movement, widely regarded as a Communist front, he led the 1932, 1934 and 1936 hunger marches to London.
Lewis Jones died on 27 January 1939 at the end of a day in which he addressed over 30 meetings in support of the republican side of the Spanish Civil War.