Vernon Hartshorn (16 March 1872 – 13 March 1931) was a Welsh trade unionist and Labour Party politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1918 until his death. Hartshorn was President of the South Wales Miners' Federation, and a member of the National Executive of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain. He was elected as Member of Parliament for Ogmore at the 1918 general election. He served as Postmaster-General in 1924, made a Privy Counsellor the same year, and became a member of the Simon Commission. In 1930, he was appointed Lord Privy Seal, serving until his death on 13 March 1931. Early life and education Vernon Hartshorn was born on 16 March 1872 in Pontywaun, Monmouthshire. He was the eldest son of Ellen and Theophilus Hartshorn. At the time of his birth his father was a coal miner but later became a local draper/grocer. The family were Primitive Methodists, Theophilus Hartshorn was a Sunday School teacher and Trustee of Crosskeys Primitive Methodist Church. Various sources describe Vernon Hartshorn as a Sunday School teacher and lay preacher from early adulthood. It is likely he received his education through home, local board school, chapel, work, and local institutes. A childhood friend recalls him spending one term at Oliver's Mount, a Quaker School in Scarborough, Yorkshire where he "was good at arithmetic and could solve problems off hand which the masters found tricky". This innate mathematical ability was to prove invaluable in later years. Early career The proving ground for many young men and boys in the South Wales valleys was work at the 'pit bottom' in the local colliery, and Hartshorn was no exception. He started underground, probably at the age of 14, and we have found a record of him working at the coal face of the Black Vein Seam of the Risca Colliery for about a year between 1892 and 1893. Ill-health resulted in Hartshorn moving to work above ground for Powell Duffryn Collieries in Aberaman from 1896. From there he transferred to the company offices in Cardiff Docks to work as a Junior Clerk. This enabled him to obtain an insight into commercial matters which was to stand him in good stead in later years. He was later elected Checkweighman at the Risca Collieries, a position rendered vacant by James Winstone, a prominent founder member and future president of the South Wales Miners' Federation. Hartshorn