Edward Cowey

Edward Cowey (9 April 1839 – 16 December 1903), often known as Ned Cowey, was a British trade unionist.

Cowey was born in Longbenton, Northumberland, and began working in local coal mines at the age of seven, opening and closing a trapdoor for fourteen hours a day. In 1858, he and his workmates were able to work together to break the written agreement of working practices, for which he was blacklisted. He briefly worked at sea, but returned to Monkwearmouth, where again he made efforts to improve working conditions.

In an effort to find further work, Cowey moved to Sharlston in the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1871, There, he joined the West Yorkshire Miners' Association (WYMA), and was elected president in 1873,

Cowey was also a member of the board of the Miners' National Union, In 1893, he was elected to the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress, where he was a prominent opponent of socialism.

In his spare time, Cowey was a Primitive Methodist lay preacher.