Amalgamated Weavers' Association
# 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.

## History

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

| Union | Founded | Affiliated | Members (1907) | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 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 | 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. 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.

For many years, the union campaigned against the practice of steaming in cotton mills.

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.

## Affiliated membership

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

| Year | Membership |
| - | - |
| 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
