London Society of Compositors

London Society of Compositors
PredecessorLondon Trade Society of Compositors
London General Trade Society of Compositors
Merged intoNational Graphical Association
Founded1834
Dissolved1964
Headquarters7-9 St Bride Street, London
Location
  • England
Members12,387 (1907)[1]
Publication
London Typographical Journal
AffiliationsTUC

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 London General Trade Society of Compositors. The following year, it was joined by the News Society of Compositors. In 1845, the union was officially dissolved, its members designating it the South Eastern District of the National Typographical Association. The national organisation collapsed, and the London group re-established itself as the "London Society of Compositors".

The union had a membership of over 10,000 by 1910, and attempted to expand outside London, but the Trades Union Congress instituted arbitration which limited it to a fifteen-mile radius of central London, the Typographical Association having rights to organise in the remainder of England.

In 1955, the Society merged with the Printing Machine Managers' Trade Society and was renamed the London Typographical Society. In 1964, it merged with the Typographical Association to form the National Graphical Association.

Election results

The union sponsored Labour Party candidates in several Parliamentary elections, many of whom won election.[2]

Election Constituency Candidate Votes Percentage Position
1906 general election Deptford C. W. Bowerman 6,236 52.2 1
1910 Jan general election Deptford C. W. Bowerman 6,880 52.0 1
1910 Dec general election Deptford C. W. Bowerman 6,357 51.4 1
1918 general election Deptford C. W. Bowerman 14,073 54.4 1
Southwark South East Thomas Naylor 2,718 27.4 2
1921 by-election Southwark South East Thomas Naylor 6,561 57.0 1
1922 general election Deptford C. W. Bowerman 18,512 52.6 1
Southwark South East Thomas Naylor 7,734 43.6 2
1923 general election Deptford C. W. Bowerman 21,576 63.0 1
Southwark South East Thomas Naylor 9,374 54.3 1
1924 general election Deptford C. W. Bowerman 21,903 54.5 1
Southwark South East Thomas Naylor 11,635 54.3 1
1929 general election Deptford C. W. Bowerman 26,848 55.2 1
Southwark South East Thomas Naylor 13,527 60.4 1
1931 general election Deptford C. W. Bowerman 22,244 45.6 2
Southwark South East Thomas Naylor 9,678 46.7 2
1935 general election Islington South William Cluse 12,526 52.4 1
Southwark South East Thomas Naylor 11,942 63.2 1
1945 general election Islington South William Cluse 12,893 72.5 1
Southwark South East Thomas Naylor 9,599 76.9 1

General Secretaries

References

  1. ^ Report on Trade Unions in 1905-1907. London: Board of Trade. 1909. pp. 82–101.
  2. ^ Howe, Ellic; Waite, Harold E. (1948). London Society of Compositors. London: Cassell. pp. 323–325.
  • Arthur Marsh, Victoria Ryan and John B. Smethurst, Historical Directory of Trade Unions