Miners’ champion honoured with first blue plaque for Hednesford
A blue plaque commemorating the life and times of miners’ champion Albert Stanley has been unveiled.
Around 20 descendants of the campaigner for workers’ rights and votes for women attended the ceremony in Hednesford, Staffordshire on Saturday, April 13.
The plaque, provided by Hednesford Town Council, was erected at Woodseaves in Green Heath Road – where he lived
The plaque, launched by Deputy Staffordshire Lord Lieutenant Charles Hawley, marks the legacy of the Labour MP elected in 1907, who was also Hednesford’s first county councillor elected in 1889.
Albert
was also known throughout the area for his work on behalf of local
miners, campaigning for better working conditions and rights.
The unveiling ceremony was attended by local VIPs as well as Albert Stanley’s relatives who traveled from across the UK
The
plaque is the culmination of a long campaign for recognition by
Hednesford town councillor Derek Davis OBE, who has a special interest
in the town’s heritage.
Cllr Davis said: “This was a great occasion and the culmination of a lot of work. It was wonderful to see so many people related to Albert able to come along and in some cases greet relatives they’d not met before.”
“Albert Stanley was a man of many great achievements, not least speaking up for the working men of the Staffordshire pits. It’s wholly appropriate that he should be remembered with a blue plaque and we are delighted to be able to make this happen.”
Before
the ceremony, Cllr Davis was accompanied by Hednesford Town Council
chairman Alan Pearson in laying a wreath at Albert Stanley’s grave.
Albert Stanley factfile:
- Born June 7th,1862 into a coal mining family in Dark Lane, Dawley Salop.
- Baptised in St Leonard’s Church, Malinslee July 6. 1862.
- The family moved, with many other mining families, into the Hednesford area in 1880.
- Local Methodist Preacher.
- Died in Hednesford 1915.
- First elected to the Staffordshire County Council representing Hednesford 1889 – 1915.