Amalgamated Weavers' Association

Amalgamated Weavers' Association
Merged into	Amalgamated Textile Workers' Union
Founded	1884
Dissolved	1974
Headquarters	Chronicle Buildings, 74 Corporation Street, Manchester
Location	United Kingdom;
Members	219,329 (1921)
Affiliations	TUC, GFTU, NCTTF, UTFWA

The Amalgamated Weavers' Association, often known as the Weavers' Amalgamation, was a trade union in the United Kingdom. Initially, it operated in competition with the North East Lancashire Amalgamated Weavers' Association in part of its area, and it was therefore nicknamed the Second Amalgamation.^[2]

History

The union was founded in 1884 as the Northern Counties Amalgamated Association of Weavers,^[3] with the participation of thirty-four local trade unions:^[4]

Union	Founded^[1]	Affiliated^[1]	Members (1907)^[5]	Notes^[6]
Accrington and District	1858	1884	4,409	Merged into Accrington, Church & Oswaldtwistle in 1949
Ashton-under-Lyne and District	1877	1884	5,319	Merged into South-East Lancashire and Cheshire in 1972
Bacup and District	1888	?	1,889	Merged into Todmorden, Bacup and District in 1952
Bamber Bridge and District	1884	1884	796	Merged into Preston and District in 1940
Barnoldswick and District	1880s	?	990
Blackburn and District	1854	1884	14,800
Blackburn Protection	1885	1900	4,369	Merged into Blackburn in 1949
Bolton and District	1865	1884	5,059	Left 1885, rejoined 1892
Burnley and District	1870	1884	18,500	Merged into Burnley & Nelson in 1966
Bury and District	1884	?	4,087	Merged into North-West Lancashire and Yorkshire in 1973
Chorley and District	1855	1884	4,620	Dissolved 1956
Church and Oswaldtwistle	1858	1884	3,232	Merged into Accrington, Church and Oswaldtwistle in 1949
Clayton-le-Moors	1858	1884	1,750	Dissolved 1962
Clitheroe	1870	1884	2,700
Colne and District	1879	1884	6,258
Darwen	1857	1884	8,298	Merged into Blackburn in 1960
Glossop and District	1871	1892	1,118	Merged into Hyde in 1922
Great Harwood	1858	1884	4,750
Haslingden	1858	1884	2,400	Merged into Rossendale in 1961
Heywood, Castleton, Norden and District	1877	1884	2,500	Merged into North-West Lancashire and Yorkshire in 1973
Hyde and District	1880	1884	7,150	Merged into South-East Lancashire and Cheshire in 1972
Leek	1919	1951	N/A	Disaffiliated in 1955
Longridge	1878	1884	625	Dissolved 1964
Macclesfield	1886	1886	589	Dissolved in 1920s
Manchester, Salford and Pendleton	1907	1909	270 (1908)	Merged into Ashton 1951
Nelson and District	1870	1884	11,000	Merged into Burnley & Nelson in 1966
Oldham and District	1859	1884	4,900
Padiham and District	1856	1884	6,010
Preston and District	1858	1884	7,000
Radcliffe	1852	?	1,326	Merged into Bury in 1911
Ramsbottom and District	1857	1884	2,116
Rishton	1878	1884	1,762	Merged into Harwood in 1964
Rochdale and District	1878	1884	3,300	Left in 1896, rejoined 1906, merged into North-West Lancashire and Yorkshire in 1973
Rossendale	1873	1892	2,800
Sabden	1884	1884	133	Merged into Harwood in 1932
Saddleworth and District	1894	1890s	485^[7]	Disaffiliated 1921
Skipton and District	1902	?	1,421
Stockport and District	1867	1884	1,590	Dissolved 1900, refounded 1906
Todmorden and District	1880	1884	4,166	Merged into Todmorden & Bacup in 1952
Whitworth Vale	1882	1892	1,150	Merged into Rochdale in 1935
Wigan and District	1890	1893	454	Left 1897, rejoined 1909

The majority of the union's members were female: in 1894, 45,000 of its 80,000 total membership were women. This was unusual; outside the cotton industry, very few women were members of trade unions.^[8] By 1937, membership had risen to 94,000, and the proportion of women had grown further, to a total of 75,000 of its members.^[4]

For many years, the union campaigned against the practice of steaming in cotton mills.^[9]^[1]

The union took its final name in 1923. In 1974, it merged with the National Union of Textile and Allied Workers to form the Amalgamated Textile Workers' Union.^[3]

Affiliated membership

The total membership of the union's affiliates grew steadily, peaked in 1922, then fell almost continuously until the union was dissolved.^[1]

Year	Membership^[1]
1884	37,539
1890	46,102
1900	81,500
1910	114,434
1920	211,621
1930	162,601
1940	86,843
1950	75,849
1960	55,647
1968	33,066

Leadership

General Secretaries

1884: Thomas Birtwistle

1885: William Henry Wilkinson

1906: Joseph Cross

1925: John C. Parker

1927: Andrew Naesmith

1953: Lewis Wright

1968: Harry Kershaw

1971: Fred Hague

Presidents

1884: David Holmes

1906: David Shackleton

1911: John William Ogden

1930: James Hindle

1937: James Bell

1947: Carey Hargreaves

1949: Lewis Wright

1954: Harold Bradley

1960: Ernest Thornton

1964: Fred Hague

1970: Hilda Unsworth

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Hopwood, Edwin (1969). A History of the Lancashire Cotton Industry and the Amalgamated Weavers' Association. Manchester: The Amalgamated Weavers' Association.
^ Ross M. Martin, The Lancashire Giant: David Shackleton, Labour Leader and Civil Servant, p.22
^ ^a ^b "Amalgamated Weavers' Association Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine", Archives Hub
^ ^a ^b Mary Agnes Hamilton, Women at Work: A Brief Introduction to Trade Unionism for Women, p.117
^ Report on Trade Unions in 1905-1907. London: Board of Trade. 1909. pp. 30–35.
^ Arthur Marsh, Victoria Ryan and John B. Smethurst, Historical Directory of Trade Unions, vol.5, pp.91-124
^ Membership figure for 1910
^ Ross M. Martin, The Lancashire Giant: David Shackleton, Labour Leader and Civil Servant, p.20
^ Fowler, Alan (2003). Lancashire Cotton Operatives and Work,1900-1950: A social history of Lancashire cotton operatives in the twentieth century. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0 7546 01161.

[hopwood-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Hopwood, Edwin (1969). A History of the Lancashire Cotton Industry and the Amalgamated Weavers' Association. Manchester: The Amalgamated Weavers' Association.

[2] Ross M. Martin, The Lancashire Giant: David Shackleton, Labour Leader and Civil Servant, p.22

[hub-3] "Amalgamated Weavers' Association Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine", Archives Hub

[hamilton-4] Mary Agnes Hamilton, Women at Work: A Brief Introduction to Trade Unionism for Women, p.117

[5] Report on Trade Unions in 1905-1907. London: Board of Trade. 1909. pp. 30–35.

[6] Arthur Marsh, Victoria Ryan and John B. Smethurst, Historical Directory of Trade Unions, vol.5, pp.91-124

[7] Membership figure for 1910

[8] Ross M. Martin, The Lancashire Giant: David Shackleton, Labour Leader and Civil Servant, p.20

[9] Fowler, Alan (2003). Lancashire Cotton Operatives and Work,1900-1950: A social history of Lancashire cotton operatives in the twentieth century. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0 7546 01161.

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