London Society of Compositors

Scope and Content

London General Trade Society of Compositors: minutes, 1827-34. London Union of Compositors: minutes, 1834-45; reports, 1833-40, 1845.

London Society of Compositors: various series of minutes, 1845-1964; various series of reports, 1834-1959; rules, 1792; price scales, 1785-1891; London Typographical Journal, 1921-1955 (incomplete); includes papers relating to the lock-out of miners and ironworkers in Monmouthshire and South Wales, 1875, and the railway wagon industry strike in Cardiff, 1899.

Administrative / Biographical History

The London General Trade Society of Compositors was established in 1826. It became the London Union of Compositors in 1834 from the amalgamation of two separate London Societies (the earliest formed in 1816). In 1845 it joined the newly formed National Typographical Association but broke away in 1848 to re-establish itself as an independent body under the name London Society of Compositors. In March 1955 the London Society of Compositors amalgamated with the Printing Machine Managers' Trade Society to form the London Typographical Society. In 1963 it merged with the Typographical Association to form the National Graphical Association.

Access Information

This collection is available to researchers by appointment at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick. See https://www2.warwick.ac.uk/services/library/mrc/using/

Other Finding Aids

Related Material

Typographical Association; The National Society of Operative Printers, Graphical and Media Personnel; London Typographical Society; National Graphical Association