William Abraham
1922 Obituary
The death of Mr. William Abraham -or " Mabon " as he was more familiarly called- removes a figure which, until recent yeas, exercised an important influence in mining circles, especially in the South Wales district. He was born in 1842, the son of a pitman, and except for a very short period of attendance at Carnarvon National School, was entirely self-educated. Until he was thirty-one years of age he was actively engaged as an underground worker. In 1873 he became a miners' agent, and in due time rose to be President of the South Wales Miners' Federation and treasurer of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain. From 1885 to 1918 he represented the Rhondda Valley district in Parliament, and from 1918 to 1920 sat for West Rhondda. As a miners'leader he acquired great authority among those whom he represented, and was accorded deserved respect by all with whom he had to deal. He lent his weight against violent methods of composing disputes, and greatly preferred peaceful negotiations to the drastic arbitrament of the strike. After the strike of 1875 had been settled by the adoption of a sliding scale for the fixing of wages - a means of settlement which he did much to bring about - it was by his influence that the miners were brought to respect the agreement for a period of over twenty years. He died at Cardiff on the 14th in his eightieth year.