The National Typographical Association was an early

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trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

, operating on a national basis. The union was founded in 1830 as the Northern Typographical Union, a federation of small, local societies in

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and the

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, including the well-established Manchester Typographical Society. Led by John Backhouse, the Association aimed to co-ordinate the activities of its member organisations. By 1840, the union had 44 member societies, representing more than 1,000 members. During the early 1840s, the union began organising

typographer Typography is the art and technique of Typesetting, arranging type to make written language legibility, legible, readability, readable and beauty, appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, Point (typogra ...

s in southern towns, but suffered setbacks due to a

recession In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction that occurs when there is a period of broad decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be tr ...

. As a result, it reconstituted itself as the "National Typographical Association" in 1844. By 1846, the organisation had 74 branches and 5,418 members. The London Union of Compositors had reconstituted itself as the South East Region, and the General Typographical Association of Scotland as the Northern Region. However, the organisation had insufficient income to cover disputes, and following a major strike in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

during 1848, it was forced to dissolve. The Association's South East Region re-established itself as the

London Society of Compositors The London Society of Compositors was a British trade union, representing print workers in London. History The union was founded as the London Union of Compositors in 1834 by the merger of the London Trade Society of Compositors and the Londo ...

, while several societies in the north of England formed the Provincial Typographical Association. It was not until 1853 that the surviving Scottish societies formed the

Scottish Typographical Association Scottish Typographical Association was a labour union representing typesetters in Scotland. It was founded in 1853. In 1974, it merged with the Society of Graphical and Allied Trades (SOGAT). , The formation of the union was organised by the G ...

References

*Arthur Marsh, Victoria Ryan and John B. Smethurst, ''Historical Directory of Trade Unions'' Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom Typesetters 1830 establishments in the United Kingdom 1848 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Printing trade unions Organizations established in 1830 Organizations disestablished in 1848 Trade unions established in the 1830s Trade unions disestablished in the 1840s London Society of Compositors {{UK-trade-union-stub