Library Research Factsheet If you would like to know more about Nationalisation, please visit our Library to continue
your research. You can access original source material as well as published documents,
oral histories and a comprehensive collection of COAL magazine and Coal News.
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A Library Research Factsheet
The National Coal Mining Museum for England celebrates the
anniversary of the Nationalisation of the coal industry. It was an event
which drew the whole industry together under the newly created
National Coal Board (NCB).
This guide provides a brief introduction to Nationalisation of the coal
industry with statistics and lists some of the many key resources availa-
ble in the Museum’s Library.
What was the Nationalisation of the Coalfields?
Nationalisation is the action of transferring private businesses and
companies to state ownership. Described as ‘the great experiment of
socialism’, over 900 pits were taken from the hands of private coal
companies and given over to public ownership by Clement Attlee’s
Labour Government. All mines and collieries with over thirty miners
came under the NCB, a single body which oversaw production and
development, regulated wages, introduced widespread safety and
welfare reforms and invested heavily in technological improvements.
This shift from hundreds of individual coal companies to a single body
was a task of mammoth proportions with far-reaching consequences.
This document focuses on the creation of the NCB and examines how
Nationalisation changed the landscape of British mining forever.
Key Dates
1 January 1945 - National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) formed
27 July 1945 - Labour Party win the General Election
19 December 1945 - Coal Industry Nationalisation Bill introduced
29- 30 December 1945 - 2nd reading of the Coal Industry
Nationalisation Bill in Parliament
12 July 1946 - Nationalisation given Royal Assent
15 July 1946 - NCB formed
23 July 1946 - First meeting of the NCB and NUM
1 January 1947 - Vesting Day - over 1000 privately run collieries
and subsidiary industries passed over to NCB
May 1947 - 1st issue of NCB ‘Coal’ magazine published
Statistics
By the end of 1947, the NCB had taken over the running of:
958 collieries out of 1,542 working collieries; all mines
employing more than 30 men underground
50 coking plants
76 brickworks and other ancillary activities
Approximately 1,000,000 acres of land
140,000 houses across the country
Around 707,000 men working in the industry
© Harold White Collection at NCMME
Texts on Nationalisation available in the
Museum Library
Ashworth, W., 1986. The History of the British Coal Industry;
Vol.5, 1946 -1982,: the Nationalized Industry
Cole, G., 1948. National Coal Board: It’s Tasks, its
Organisation and its Prospects
Colliery Guardian., National Coal Board: The first ten years
Dickie, J.P., 1945.The British Coal Mining Industry:
Nationalisation. A Layman’s Guide to the Coal Mining
Industry or Private Enterprise
Foot, R., 1945. A Plan for Coal Being the Report to the Colliery
Owners
Harris, N., 1986. The Coal Mines.
Haynes, W., 1953. Nationalization in Practice: The British Coal
Industry
HMSO., 1945. Coal Industry Nationalisation Bill
HMSO., 1946. Coal Industry Nationalisation Act
Lancaster, C.G., 1951.Structure and Control of the Coal Industry
Labour Research Department., 1945. The Case for
Nationalisation, Coal, Transport, Steel and Control
Texts on Nationalisation cont.
Millward, R., 2002. The Political Economy of Nationalisation in
Britain 1920 —1950
NCB., 1948. Summer School Speeches
NCB., 1957. British Coal: the Rebirth of an Industry
NCB., 1950. Plan for Coal. The National Coal Board’s
Proposals
N.C.B., 1947. Principal and Supplementary Superannuation
Schemes (provision for pensions for staff over 60 years of age
on date of transfer to Board’s service)
Pigott, N., 2016. The Rise and Fall of King Coal
Politt, H., 1944. Take over the Mines! The case for
Nationalisation
Robson, W.A., 1952. Problems of Nationalized Industry
Supple, B., 1987. The History of the British Coal Industry; Vol.4,
1913 -1946: the Political Economy of Decline
TUC., 1953. Public Ownership. An Interim Report
© Unknown
Journal Articles
Coal Industry Nationalisation Bill.
The Colliery Guardian, 1945, 171 (4435),
pp787-781
The Curtain Falls. The Colliery Guardian,
1946, 173 (4464), pp88-90
(article on the passing of the
Nationalisation Bill)
The National Coal Board. The Colliery
Guardian, 1946, 173 (4465) pp130-131
(article on the NCB Regulations)
NCB Safety Booklets
Firedamp: How to detect it with a flame-safety lamp
Mine Gases
Pit Ventilation
Safety at Road Heads
Pamphlets Gaitskell, H., 1948. What the Public Ask of Nationalisation
Moung, T.A., 1946. Organisation of the National Coal Board
NCB., Careers in Coal
NCB., 1948. Committee on Organisation: Statement by the Coal
Board
Thorneycroft, W., 1919. The Case for Coal Owners
© Harold White Collection at NCMME
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