The union was founded in 1858 at the White Bear Inn in Barnsley in response to a planned wage cut, with Richard Mitchell appointed a few weeks later as its secretary.
Several more disputes took place over the next few years, the most important in 1859 at Wharncliffe Silkstone Colliery, where workers succeeded in keeping an elected checkweighman, John Normansell.
[1] The SYMA was reorganised under the new leadership of Normansell, introducing standard procedures across all branches, and successfully promoting the election of checkweighmen across the district.
With his assistant Philip Casey, they rebuilt membership to over 20,000, and began running annual South Yorkshire Miners' Galas.
It was only re-established in 1866, when miners in Tinsley also joined, the union prioritising bringing their working conditions up to the standards enjoyed in the rest of the district.
This was fiercely resisted by some mineowners, and led to an eighteen-month strike in 1869/70 which spread across the district, with the union successful at some pits but entirely defeated at others.