South Yorkshire Times February 24, 1945
A Cadeby Y.M.A. Stalwart
Presentation to Mr Tom Hill
After 45 years of working industrial leadership, Mr Tom Hill goes into retirement on Wednesday of next week. To mark this occasion there was a happy thing to do the annual supper of the Denaby and Cadeby Cricket Club, Mr J.A.Hall, President of the Yorkshire Mineworkers Association, on behalf of workers at Cadeby colliery, presented to Mr Hill a canteen of cutlery.
Mr Hall said he was pleased to pay tribute to Mr Hill’s many hard years of loyal and ceaseless service, but regretted losing one of the “yeomen of the guard,” not particular to the Denaby and Cadeby Colliery’s, but to the mining industry of Yorkshire.
Mr Hill had been a reformer all his life, and he himself knew how hard the way of the reformer was, but he was glad to see that their efforts were now yielding fruit. Much be done for the betterment of the bands, but more could be done. The industry was not decadent, there would be no going back. He did not think that nationalisation was necessarily the solution to the problem. Days are gone when bad pits continue to exist, and the nation should not be asked to take them over.
Councillor I Houghton spoke in appreciation of Mr Hill’s work at Denaby.
Mr Hill recalled that when he first became president of the Cadeby branch only 10% of the men were in the Association. In all his transactions the always advocated cooperation between management and men. Referred to Mr Hall’s impending trip to America, Mr Hill said that the industry was looking anxiously to the English engineers not to Americans.
Mr Hill came from Staffordshire in 1908 to work underground at Cadeby. He was elected president of the branch in 1910 and held office until 1926. Since then he has twice been treasurer. He was elected check weighman in July 1911, and has held that position up to retirement. He has been a member of the Joint Wages Board and is one of the two surviving original members of the Cadeby Disaster Relief Fund Committee.
He was a creator of the home coal carting scheme, one of the first in Great Britain. He was also a pioneer of pension schemes for miners, Cadeby being the first in the country. He has served on Conisbrough U.D.C. When the Miners Welfare Institute was erected in 1924 he was its first vice president and in 1929 he succeeded Mr H.C.Harrison as chairman, a position he still holds.
In a large measure, the Denaby Welfare Institute owes its present healthy financial position to his guidance.