Unique artefact from Britain's biggest strike given to printer and kept by daughter 97 years later

A unique artefact from the country's largest industrial dispute has been kept as a keepsake by the daughter of a man who kept print presses rolling.

Jennifer Mitchell has kept hold of a silver cigarette box which was presented to her father, Arthur Cox, as a thank you from the Express & Star owners in 1926 for his role in ensuring the paper continued to be printed during the General Strike.

The General Strike of 1926 was the largest industrial dispute in Britain's history and was called by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) to prevent wage reduction and worsening conditions for coal miners.

It took place over nine days, from May 4 until May 12 and involved many industries, as well as having wide-reaching effects on people and trade unions.

The strike bitterly divided the country, with troops called in to run trains and keep the docks open, assisted by thousands of eager volunteers, including many students.

The print industry also ground to a halt, with Fleet Street left empty, but some newspapers, including Winston Churchill's British Gazette and the Express & Star, managed to keep going in some form.

Arthur Cox is seen fourth from the left outside the printing business which helped print the Express and Star in 1926 during the General Strike

A copy of the paper Arthur Cox helped to print can be found in the Express and Start offices, showing the details of what happened on May 5, 1926

The Express & Star was able to produce copies during the strike, with one such page from May 5 1926 providing details of the General Strike, from an overview of the strike and no discussions being had between the parties involved in the strike to printing presses being sought and men on strike at Crewe.

It was able to print these papers through the work of The Cleveland Press in Wolverhampton which, led by Arthur Cox and his brothers Herbert and Bill, broke the strike to keep the printing presses going over the strike and gave Arthur the cigarette case as a thank you.

A message is inscribed on the inside of the case, which reads: "From the Proprietors of the Express & Star to A.G.Cox as a token of their appreciation for valuable services rendered to them during the general strike. May 1926".

Ms Mitchell has kept the case in her home in Malvern.

The 85-year-old said that it was one of the reminders of her father, who died in 1944 aged 57 when she was eight-years-old, and who she said left very little of his life with her and her family.

The inside of the case shows a message of thanks to Mr Cox from the proprietors of the Express and Star

She said: "The case is of very great value because, apart from myself, my brother and my sister, he didn't leave very much behind, so it's very much an icon of our childhood in what was quite a poor house and is very important to us.

"He didn't tell me much about the time of the strike as he died when I was only eight, but we have memories of the time from the case and the photo of the Cleveland Press, which has him and his brothers, and long held memories by me of going in and see him and my uncle setting the prints tightly by hand.

"It's a lovely link to the past though and shows the appreciation the paper had to him for keeping it going back then."