The Typographical Association (TA) was a

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 ...

representing

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 the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

History

The National Typographical Association collapsed in 1848, and delegates from across

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

and

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

met at Angel Street in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

to found the Provincial Typographical Association, intended to recreate the former Northern Typographical Union and to focus on paying benefits to members on

strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...

. The union grew gradually from 481 members at the end of 1849 to 5,300 in 1877. In that year, it merged with a related relief association and dropped "Provincial" from its title. Based in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, the union focussed on demanding members serve a seven-year

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulat ...

. In 1894, it began admitting women. In the 1910s, the Association established a branch in London, but the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union center, national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions that collectively represent most unionised workers in England and Wales. There are 48 affiliated unions with a total of ...

instituted arbitration which restricted it from a fifteen-mile radius of central London, the rival London Society of Compositors having rights to organise in the city. By 1946, membership had reached 13,958. Labour Party, ''Report of the Forty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Labour Party'', p.78 In 1964, the Association merged with the London Typographical Society to create the

National Graphical Association The National Graphical Association (NGA) was a trade union representing typographers and related workers in the United Kingdom. History The union was formed in 1964 by the merger of two long-term rival unions, the Typographical Association an ...

Election results

The union sponsored Labour Party candidates in several Parliamentary elections, many of whom won election. In both the 1910 elections, Roberts was elected by taking second place in a two-seat constituency.

Leadership

General Secretaries

:1849: Josephus Speak :1865: Henry Roberts :1869: Henry Slatter :1897: Richard Hackett :1900: A. W. Jones :1900: Herbert Skinner :1934: John Fletcher :1942: Harry Riding :1955: F. C. Blackburn :1957: John Bonfield

General Presidents

:1852: William Dronfield :1855: :1886:

Owen Connellan Owen Connellan (1797 – 4 August 1871) was an Irish scholar who translated the ''Annals of the Four Masters'' into English in 1846. Life He was born in County Sligo, the son of a farmer who claimed descent from Lóegaire mac Néill, High K ...

:1888: Daniel Bird :1889: :1891: Richard Hackett :1892: :1893: Richard Hackett :1897: :1899: O. Waddington :1902: H. Matthewman :1908: John H. Boothman :1913: Jimmy French :1934: Hugh Inglis :1949: F. C. Blackburn :1955: John Bonfield :1957: Fred Simmons

References

*Arthur Marsh, Victoria Ryan and John B. Smethurst, ''Historical Directory of Trade Unions'' *Albert Edward Musson, ''The Typographical Association: Origins and History Up to 1949'' ;Specific

External links

Catalogue of the TA archives
held at the

Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick The Modern Records Centre (MRC) is the specialist archive service of the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, located adjacent to the Central Campus Library. It was established in October 1973 and holds the world's largest archive collect ...

1849 establishments in the United Kingdom 1964 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom Typesetters Printing trade unions Trade unions established in the 1840s Trade unions disestablished in 1964 Trade unions based in Greater Manchester {{UK-trade-union-stub