The Typographical Association was a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 trade union

Trade union

A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...

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The National Typographical Association

National Typographical Association

The National Typographical Association was an early British trade union, operating on a national basis.The union was founded in 1830 as the Northern Typographical Union, a federation of small, local societies in England and the Isle of Man, including the well-established Manchester Typographical...

 collapsed in 1848, and delegates from across Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

 and Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

 met at Angel Street in Sheffield

Sheffield

Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

 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 action

Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...

. 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

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

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

Apprenticeship

Apprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...

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

Trades Union Congress

The Trades Union Congress is a national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions in the United Kingdom, representing the majority of trade unions...

 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.

In 1964, the Association merged with the London Typographical Society

London Typographical Society

The London Typographical Society was a British trade union.The union was founded as the London Union of Compositors in 1834 by the merger of the London Trade Society of Compositors and the London General Trade Society of Compositors. The following year, it was joined by the News Society of...

 to create the National Graphical Association

National Graphical Association

The National Graphical Association was a British trade union. It was formed in 1964 by the merger of two long-term rival unions, the Typographical Association and the London Typographical Society...

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General Secretaries

• 1865 - 69: Henry Roberts
• 1869 - 97: Henry Slatter
• 1897 - 00: Richard Hackett
• 1900 - 01: A. Jones
• 1901 - 34: Herbert Skinner
• 1934 - ??: John Fletcher