Lewis Jones ….. miner …. labour organiser …. Communist .... and author

I have just spent a delightful afternoon in the company of Lewis Jones.

Protesting for justice, Birmingham, 1983

He was a Welsh miner, a local leader during the General Strike, a County Councillor, and a member of the Communist Party.

During the 1930s he led the Welsh contingents on national hunger marches to London and campaigned for the legitimate Republican Government in the Spanish Civil War.

Added to all this he wrote two novels about the lives of working people in the Welsh valleys focusing on the great industrial struggles of the early 20th century. *

And here comes the confession, he died in 1939 of a heart attack on a day when he had addressed 30 meetings in support of the Spanish Republic and the International Brigade.

Review of We Live, 1939

So, the delightful afternoon has been courtesy of three biographies**, some reviews of his second book and two genealogical platforms.

We Live, 1939

All of which was prompted by listening to Radio 4’s Little Moscow, Britain’s Communist Thread, which featured Mr. Jones. *** 

It was a fascinating programme and amongst the well-known Communist leaders there was a piece of Lewis Jones.

Like so many people of his class he disappeared from popular history and so I am pleased to have come across him and wait for his second novel to arrive.

Pictures; Birmingham, 1983, from the collection of Andrew Simpson, extract from review of We Live, Manchester Guardian, April 18th, 1939, and cover of We Live

*Cwmardy 1937, We Live, 1939

**Lewis Jones, https://spartacus-educational.com/TUlewisLM.htm

Lewis Jones, https://grahamstevenson.me.uk/2008/09/19/lewis-jones/

Lewis Jones, https://biography.wales/article/s-JONE-LEW-1897#:~:text=Jones%20was%20elected%20a%20member,at%20Cardiff%20in%20January%201939.

***Little Moscow, Britain’s Communist Thread, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001f5fp