Amalgamated Weavers' Association

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.^[1]

The union was founded in 1884 as the Northern Counties Amalgamated Association of Weavers,^[2] with the participation of thirty-four local trade unions:^[3]

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.^[5] 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.^[3]

For many years, the union campaigned against the practice of steaming in cotton mills.^[6][7]

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.^[2]

Notable leaders of the union include secretary Thomas Birtwistle and president David Shackleton.

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

1. ↑ Ross M. Martin, The Lancashire Giant: David Shackleton, Labour Leader and Civil Servant, p.22
2. 1 2 "Amalgamated Weavers' Association", Archives Hub
3. 1 2 Mary Agnes Hamilton, Women at Work: A Brief Introduction to Trade Unionism for Women, p.117
4. ↑ Arthur Marsh, Victoria Ryan and John B. Smethurst, Historical Directory of Trade Unions, vol.5, pp.91-124
5. ↑ Ross M. Martin, The Lancashire Giant: David Shackleton, Labour Leader and Civil Servant, p.20
6. ↑ 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. 
7. ↑ Hopwood, Edwin (1969). A History of the Lancashire Cotton Industry and the Amalgamated Weavers' Association. Manchester: The Amalgamated Weavers' Association. 

Lancashire cotton
Architects	David Bellhouse Bradshaw Gass & Hope F.W. Dixon & Son Edward Potts Potts, Pickup & Dixon Stott Sidney Stott (later Sir Philip)
Engine makers	Daniel Adamson Ashton Frost Ashworth & Parker Bateman & Sherratt Boulton & Watt Browett, Lindley & Co Buckley & Taylor Carels Frères Earnshaw & Holt Fairbairn W & J Galloway & Sons Benjamin Goodfellow Hick, Hargreaves & Co Benjamin Hick and Sons John Musgrave & Sons J & W McNaught Petrie of Rochdale William Roberts & Co of Nelson George Saxon Scott & Hodgson Urmson & Thompson Yates of Blackburn Yates & Thom Willans & Robinson J & E Wood Woolstenhulmes & Rye
Machinery makers	Brooks & Doxey Butterworth & Dickinson Curtis, Parr & Walton Dobson & Barlow John Hetherington & Sons Joseph Hibbert John Pilling and Sons Harling & Todd Howard & Bullough Geo. Hattersley Asa Lees Mather & Platt Parr, Curtis & Madely British Northrop Loom Co Pemberton & Co Platt Brothers Taylor, Lang & Co Textile Machinery Makers Tweedales & Smalley T. Wildman & Sons
Mill owners	Elkanah Armitage Henry Ashworth Hugh Birley Hugh Hornby Birley Joseph Brotherton James Burton Peter Drinkwater Nathaniel Eckersley John Fielden William Gray Richard Howarth William Houldsworth John Kennedy Charles Macintosh Hugh Mason Samuel Oldknow Robert Peel John Rylands
Limited companies	Oldham Limiteds Fine Spinners and Doublers Lancashire Cotton Corporation Combined Egyptian Mills Ltd Courtaulds Bagley & Wright
Industrial processes	Textile manufacturing Cotton-spinning machinery Dref Friction Spinning Dandy loom Magnetic ring spinning Open end spinning Ring spinning Spinning frame Spinning jenny Spinning mule Steaming Water frame Roberts Loom Lancashire Loom Lancashire boiler
Associations	Amalgamated Association of Beamers, Twisters and Drawers (Hand and Machine) Amalgamated Association of Operative Cotton Spinners Amalgamated Textile Warehousemen's Association Amalgamated Textile Workers' Union Amalgamated Weavers' Association Burnley, Nelson, Rossendale and District Textile Workers' Union General Union of Loom Overlookers North East Lancashire Amalgamated Weavers' Association Northern Counties Textile Trades Federation Northern Textile and Allied Workers' Union National Union of Textile and Allied Workers The Textile Institute United Textile Factory Workers' Association
Employment practices	More looms Kissing the shuttle Mule spinners' cancer Piece-rate list
Lists of mills	LCC mills Bolton Bury Cheshire Derbyshire Lancashire Manchester Oldham (borough) Preston Rochdale Salford Stockport Tameside Wigan Yorkshire
Museums	Bancroft Shed Helmshore Mills Queen Street Mill Weavers' Triangle Quarry Bank Mill, Styal
Pioneers	Richard Arkwright Samuel Crompton James Hargreaves Thomas Highs John Kay (flying shuttle) John Kay (spinning frame) Robert Owen