Born into a coal mining family in Clowne, Derbyshire, Machen left school and began working as a coal miner at the age of 13.[3] He continued his education at the Chesterfield Labour College, and soon began to lecture personally at the college. He joined the Miners' Federation of Great Britain (MFGB), and through this role, helped organise a major demonstration in London in 1925, where he heard Herbert Smith and A. J. Cook speak, becoming a supporter of the two miners' leaders.[4]
Machen first stood for the post of President of the National Union of Mineworkers (successor to the MFGB) in 1945, coming second to Will Lawther.[4] He stood again in January 1960, but on 2 March died suddenly in hospital in Leeds, aged 59.[2] The count for the presidential election was completed a few days later, showing that he had been posthumously elected to the position.[5]
