This image is the cover for the book Lord Mason, Barnsley Pitlad to Peer

Lord Mason, Barnsley Pitlad to Peer

Roy Mason swapped the colliery for Westminster when elected MP for Barnsley in 1953. He went on to become one of the leading figures in the Labour Party during the 1960s and 1970s, holding a number of prestigious offices including Defence Secretary from 1974 and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 1976. This photographic biography presents images from Mason's own archive charting his personal and political life from the Yorkshire pits to the House of Lords.

Brian Elliott

Brian Elliott is a well-known local historian and editor who has written widely about the British coalmining history. Among his recent books on the subject are Barnsley Pits and Pitmen, Yorkshire Miners, Yorkshire Mining Veterans, The Miners' Strike Day by Day, South Yorkshire Mining Disasters (2 vols), Tracing Your Coalmining Ancestors and in Pen & Sword's Images of the Past series, Coalminers.

Wharncliffe