Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

British Trade Unions, 1800–1875

  • Chapter
British Trade Union and Labour History A Compendium

Part of the book series: Studies in Economic and Social History ((SESH))

Abstract

IT is remarkable, indeed perhaps unique in historical studies, that a work which was originally published in 1894 (though later extended to 1920) still remains the standard textbook in its field. That the Webbs’ great History of Trade Unionism still holds its place is a tribute to the immense research and interpretative insight on which it was based, but also perhaps an indication of the relative inferiority of later labour-historical scholarship. Twenty years ago, John Saville was deploring the decline in working-class history since the days of the Webbs, Cole and Beer in the early decades of this century [14]; he viewed the publication of Cole and Filson’s British Working-class Movements: Select Documents, 1789–1875 (1951) as a belated but glorious sunset to this great era. Today, the Webbs’ History still stands as a monumental piece of historical scholarship. There has meanwhile been a great deal of specialised research on particular aspects or periods — on many points the Webbs’ evidence and interpretations have been revealed as inadequate — but no one has yet emerged with comparable breadth as well as depth of scholarship to rewrite the whole history of trade unionism over the past two centuries on the same academic level.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Select Bibliography

Original Documents

  1. A. Aspinall, The Early English Trade Unions (1949).

    Google Scholar 

  2. G. D. H. Cole and A. W. Filson, British Working-Class Movements: Select Documents, 1789–1875 (1951).

    Google Scholar 

  3. E. Frow and M. Katanka, 1868: Year of the Unions (1968).

    Google Scholar 

  4. J. B. Jefferys, Labour’s Formative Years, 1849–1879 (1948).

    Google Scholar 

  5. M. Morris, From Cobbett to the Chartists, 1815–48 (1948).

    Google Scholar 

  6. S. Pollard, The Sheffield Outrages (1971).

    Google Scholar 

General Labour Histories

  1. M. Beer, A History of British Socialism, 3rd ed. (2 vols, 1953).

    Google Scholar 

  2. A. Briggs and J. Saville (eds), Essays in Labour History, vol. i (2nd ed., 1967).

    Google Scholar 

  3. W. H. Chaloner, The Skilled Artisan during the Industrial Revolution, 1750–1850 (Historical Association pamphlet, 1969).

    Google Scholar 

  4. G. D. H. Cole, A Short History of the British Working Class Movement (1948).

    Google Scholar 

  5. J. L. and B. Hammond, The Skilled Labourer, 1760–1832 (1919).

    Google Scholar 

  6. E. J. Hobsbawm, Labouring Men (1964).

    Google Scholar 

  7. W. H. Marwick, A Short History of Labour in Scotland (1967).

    Google Scholar 

  8. J. Saville, ‘A Note on the Present Position of Working Class History’, Yorkshire Bulletin of Economic and Social Research, iv 2 (Sep 1952).

    Google Scholar 

  9. J. Saville (ed.), Democracy and the Labour Movement (1954).

    Google Scholar 

  10. E. P. Thompson, The Making of the English Working Class, rev. ed. (1968).

    Google Scholar 

  11. J. T. Ward (ed.), Popular Movements c. 1830–1850 (1970).

    Google Scholar 

  12. R. F. Wearmouth, Methodism and the Working-Class Movements of England, 1800–1850 (1937).

    Google Scholar 

Works on the General History of Trade Unionism

  1. V. L. Allen, ‘A Methodological Criticism of the Webbs as Trade Union Historians’, Labour History Society Bulletin, no. 4 (spring 1962).

    Google Scholar 

  2. R. V. Clements, ‘British Trade Unions and Popular Political Economy, 1850–1875’, Economic History Review, 2nd ser., xiv 1 (Aug 1961).

    Google Scholar 

  3. G. D. H. Cole, ‘Some Notes on British Trade Unionism in the Third Quarter of the Nineteenth Century’, International Review for Social History, ii (1937), reprinted in E. M. Carus-Wilson (ed.), Essays in Economic History, vol. iii (1962).

    Google Scholar 

  4. G. D. H. Cole, Attempts at General Union, 1818–1834 (1953).

    Google Scholar 

  5. S. W. Coltham, ‘George Potter, the Junta, and the Beehive’, International Review of Social History, ix (1964) and x (1965).

    Google Scholar 

  6. I. Garbati, ‘British Trade Unionism in the Mid-Victorian Era’, University of Toronto Quarterly, xx (1950–1).

    Google Scholar 

  7. M. D. George, ‘The Combination Laws Reconsidered’, Economic History (supplement to Economic Journal), no. 2 (May 1927).

    Google Scholar 

  8. M. D. George, ‘The Combination Laws’, Economic History Review, vi (1936).

    Google Scholar 

  9. R. Y. Hedges and A. Winterbottom, The Legal History of Trade Unionism (1930).

    Google Scholar 

  10. E. J. Hobsbawm, ‘Trade Union Historiography’, Labour History Society Bulletin, no. 8 (spring 1964).

    Google Scholar 

  11. H. W. McCready, ‘British Labour and the Royal Commission on Trade Unions, 1867–9’, University of Toronto Quarterly, xxiv (1955).

    Google Scholar 

  12. H. W. McCready, ‘British Labour’s Lobby, 1867–75’, Canadian Journal of Economic and Political Science, xxii (1956).

    Google Scholar 

  13. A. E. Musson, ‘The Webbs and their Phasing of Trade-Union Development between the 1830s and the 1860s’, Labour History Society Bulletin, no. 4 (spring 1962).

    Google Scholar 

  14. A. E. Musson, The Congress of 1868: The Origins and Establishment of the Trades Union Congress (1955; rev, ed., 1968).

    Google Scholar 

  15. H. M. Pelling, A History of British Trade Unionism (1963).

    Google Scholar 

  16. B. C. Roberts, The Trades Union Congress, 1868–1921 (1958).

    Google Scholar 

  17. M. I. Thomis, The Luddites (1970).

    Google Scholar 

  18. S. and B. Webb, The History of Trade Unionism, rev. ed. (1920).

    Google Scholar 

  19. S. and B. Webb, Industrial Democracy (1920).

    Google Scholar 

Histories of Trade Unions in Particular Industries: Agriculture

  1. J. P. D. Dimbabin, ‘The “Revolt of the Field”: The Agricultural Labourers’ Movement in the 1870s’, Past and Present, no. 26 (1963).

    Google Scholar 

  2. R. Groves, ‘Sharpen the Sickle!’: The History of the Farm Workers’ Union (1949).

    Google Scholar 

  3. E. J. Hobsbawm and G. Rudé, Captain Swing (1969).

    Google Scholar 

  4. A. J. Peacock, ‘The Revolt of the Field in East Anglia’, in L. M. Munby (ed.), The Luddites and Other Essays (1971).

    Google Scholar 

  5. R. C. Russell, The ‘Revolt of the Field’ in Lincolnshire (1956).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Trades Union Congress, The Book of the Martyrs of Tolpuddle, 1834–1934 (1934).

    Google Scholar 

Brushmaking

  1. W. Kiddier, The Old Trade Unions (1930).

    Google Scholar 

Building, woodworking, etc.

  1. T. J. Connelly, The Woodworkers, 1860–1960 (Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers, 1960).

    Google Scholar 

  2. J. O. French, Plumbers in Unity: History of the Plumbing Trades Union, 1865–1965 (1965).

    Google Scholar 

  3. S. Higenbottam, Our Society’s History (Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers, 1939).

    Google Scholar 

  4. W. S. Hilton, Foes to Tyranny: A History of the Amalgamated Union of Building Trade Workers (1963).

    Google Scholar 

  5. R. Postgate, The Builders’ History (1923).

    Google Scholar 

Coal mining

  1. R. Challinor and B. Ripley, The Miners’ Association: A Trade Union in the Age of the Chartists (1968).

    Google Scholar 

  2. N. Edwards, History of the South Wales Miners (1926).

    Google Scholar 

  3. E. W. Evans, The Miners of South Wales (1961).

    Google Scholar 

  4. F. Machin, The Yorkshire Miners: A History, vol. i (1958).

    Google Scholar 

  5. A. J. Taylor, ‘The Miners’ Association of Great Britain and Ireland, 1842–48’, Economica, n.s., xxii (1955)

    Google Scholar 

  6. S. Webb, The Story of the Durham Miners, 1662–1921 (1921).

    Google Scholar 

  7. E. Welbourne, The Miners’ Unions of Northumberland and Durham (1923).

    Google Scholar 

  8. J. E. Williams, The Derbyshire Miners (1962).

    Google Scholar 

  9. A. J. Youngson-Brown, ‘Trade Union Policy in the Scots Coalfields, 1855–1885’, Economic History Review, 2nd ser., vi 1 (Aug 1953).

    Google Scholar 

Iron and engineering

  1. H. J. Fyrth and H. Collins, The Foundry Workers (1959).

    Google Scholar 

  2. J. B. Jefferys, The Story of the Engineers, 1800–1945 (1946).

    Google Scholar 

Pottery

  1. W. H. Warburton, History of Trade Union Organisation in the North Staffordshire Potteries (1931).

    Google Scholar 

Printing and bookbinding

  1. E. Howe, The London Compositor: Documents (1947).

    Google Scholar 

  2. E. Howe and H. E. Waite, The London Society of Compositors: A Centenary History (1948).

    Google Scholar 

  3. E. Howe and J. Child, The London Society of Bookbinders, 1780–1951 (1952).

    Google Scholar 

  4. A. E. Musson, The Typographical Association: Origins and History up to 1949 (1954).

    Google Scholar 

Textiles and clothing

  1. D. Bythell, The Handloom Weavers (1969).

    Google Scholar 

  2. N. H. Cuthbert, The Lace Makers’ Society: A Study of Trade Unionism in the British Lace Industry, 1760–1960 (1960).

    Google Scholar 

  3. F. W. Galton, Select Documents Illustrating the History of Trade Unionism, vol. i: The Tailoring Trade (1896).

    Google Scholar 

  4. N. J. Smelser, Social Change in the Industrial Revolution: An Application of Theory to the British Cotton Industry (1959).

    Google Scholar 

  5. M. Stewart and L. Hunter, The Needle is Threaded (1964).

    Google Scholar 

  6. H. A. Turner, Trade Union Growth, Structure and Policy: A Comparative Study of the Cotton Unions (1962).

    Google Scholar 

Transport and docks

  1. G. W. Alcock, Fifty Tears of Railway Trade Unionism (1922).

    Google Scholar 

  2. P. S. Bagwell, The Railwaymen: The History of the National Union of Railwaymen (1963).

    Google Scholar 

  3. P. W. Kingsford, Victorian Railwaymen: The Emergence and Growth of Railway Labour, 1830–1870 (1970).

    Google Scholar 

  4. J. Lovell, Stevedores and Dockers (1969).

    Google Scholar 

Histories of Trade Unionism and Trades Councils in Particular Towns

  1. G. Barnsby, The Origins of Wolverhampton Trades Council (1965).

    Google Scholar 

  2. J. Corbett, The Birmingham Trades Council, 1866–1966 (1966).

    Google Scholar 

  3. A. Fox, ‘Industrial Relations in 19th century Birmingham’, Oxford Economic Papers, n.s., vii (1955).

    Google Scholar 

  4. W. Hamling, A Short History of the Liverpool Trades’ Council, 1848–1948 (1948).

    Google Scholar 

  5. I. MacDougall, The Minutes of Edinburgh Trades Council, 1859–1873 (1968).

    Google Scholar 

  6. S. Pollard, A History of Labour in Sheffield (1959).

    Google Scholar 

  7. S. Pollard et al., Sheffield Trades and Labour Council, 1858–1958 (1958).

    Google Scholar 

  8. C. Richards, A History of Trades Councils (1920).

    Google Scholar 

  9. J. Saville, ‘Trades Councils and the Labour Movement to 1900’, Labour History Society Bulletin, no. 14 (spring 1967).

    Google Scholar 

  10. G. Tate, The London Trades Council, 1860–1950 (1950).

    Google Scholar 

Trade-Union Relations with the Owenite-Socialist, Radical and Chartist Movements

  1. A. Briggs (ed.), Chartist Studies (1959).

    Google Scholar 

  2. G. D. H. Cole, Robert Owen (1925).

    Google Scholar 

  3. M. I. Cole, Robert Owen of New Lanark (1953).

    Google Scholar 

  4. W. H. Fraser, ‘Robert Owen and the Workers’, in J. Butt (ed.), Robert Owen (1971).

    Google Scholar 

  5. B. Harrison and P. Hollis, ‘Chartism, Liberalism and the Life of Robert Lowery’, English Historical Review, lxxxii (1967).

    Google Scholar 

  6. J. F. C. Harrison, Robert Owen and the Owenites in Britain and America (1969).

    Google Scholar 

  7. M. Hovell, The Chartist Movement (1918; 3rd ed., 1966).

    Google Scholar 

  8. A. Jenkin, ‘Chartism and the Trade Unions’, in L. M. Munby (ed.), The Luddites and Other Essays (1971).

    Google Scholar 

  9. H. Maehl, ‘Chartist Disturbances in Northeastern England, 1839’, International Review of Social History, viii (1963).

    Google Scholar 

  10. F. C. Mather, Chartism (Historical Association pamphlet, 1965).

    Google Scholar 

  11. A. E. Musson, ‘The Ideology of Early Co-operation in Lancashire and Cheshire’, Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society Transactions, lxviii (1958).

    Google Scholar 

  12. R. S. Neale, ‘Class and Class-Consciousness in Early Nineteenth-Century England: Three Classes or Five?’, Victorian Studies, xii (1968).

    Google Scholar 

  13. W. H. Oliver, ‘Robert Owen and the English Working-Class Movements’, History Today, viii (1958).

    Google Scholar 

  14. W. H. Oliver, ‘The Consolidated Trades’ Union of 1834’, Economic History Review, 2nd ser., xvii 1 (Aug 1964).

    Google Scholar 

  15. F. Podmore, Robert Owen (2 vols, 1906).

    Google Scholar 

  16. S. Pollard and J. Salt (eds), Robert Owen: Prophet of the Poor (1971).

    Google Scholar 

  17. I. Prothero, ‘Chartism in London’, Past and Present, no. 44 (Aug 1969).

    Google Scholar 

  18. I. Prothero, ‘London Chartism and the Trades’, Economic History Review, 2nd ser., xxiv 2 (May 1971).

    Google Scholar 

  19. D. J. Rowe, ‘The Failure of London Chartism’, Historical Journal, xi (1968).

    Google Scholar 

  20. D. J. Rowe, ‘Class and Political Radicalism in London, 1831–2’, Historical Journal, xiii (1970).

    Google Scholar 

  21. G. Rudé, ‘English Rural and Urban Disturbances on the Eve of the First Reform Bill, 1830–1831’, Past and Present, no. 37 (1967).

    Google Scholar 

Trade Unions, Politics and Society, 1850–75

  1. C. F. Brand, ‘The Conversion of the British Trade-Unions to Political Action’, American Historical Review, xxx 2 (Jan 1925).

    Google Scholar 

  2. A. Briggs, ‘Robert Applegarth and the Trade Unions’, in Victorian People (1954).

    Google Scholar 

  3. H. J. Collins and C. Abramsky, Karl Marx and the British Labour Movement: Tears of the First International (1965).

    Google Scholar 

  4. H. J. Collins, ‘The English Branches of the First International’, in Briggs and Saville [8].

    Google Scholar 

  5. H. J. Collins, ‘The International and the British Labour Movement’, Labour History Society Bulletin, no. 9 (autumn 1964).

    Google Scholar 

  6. F. E. Gillespie, Labor and Politics in England, 1850–1867 (1927; reprinted 1968).

    Google Scholar 

  7. R. Harrison, Before the Socialists: Studies in Labour and Politics, 1861–1881 (1965).

    Google Scholar 

  8. A. W. Humphrey, Robert Applegarth (1913).

    Google Scholar 

  9. F. M. Leventhal, Respectable Radical: George Howell and Victorian Working Class Politics (1971).

    Google Scholar 

  10. J. Saville, Ernest Jones: Chartist (1952).

    Google Scholar 

  11. J. Saville, ‘The Background to the Revival of Socialism in England’, Labour History Society Bulletin, no. 11 (autumn 1965).

    Google Scholar 

  12. J. Saville, ‘Some Aspects of Chartism in Decline’, Labour History Society Bulletin, no. 20 (spring 1970).

    Google Scholar 

Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration

  1. V. L. Allen, ‘The Origins of Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration’, International Review of Social History, ix (1964).

    Google Scholar 

  2. R. A. Church, ‘Technological Change and the Hosiery Board of Conciliation and Arbitration, 1860–1884’, Yorkshire Bulletin of Economic and Social Research, xv (1963).

    Google Scholar 

  3. J. R. Hicks, ‘The Early History of Industrial Conciliation in England’, Economica, x (1930).

    Google Scholar 

  4. A. J. Odber, ‘The Origins of Industrial Peace: The Manufactured Iron Trade of the North of England’, Oxford Economic Papers, n.s., iii (1951).

    Google Scholar 

  5. J. H. Porter, ‘Wage Bargaining under Conciliation Agreements, 1860–1914’, Economic History Review, n.s., xxiii 3 (Dec 1970).

    Google Scholar 

  6. I. G. Sharp, Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration in Great Britain (1950).

    Google Scholar 

Trade Unions and Emigration

  1. R. V. Clements, ‘Trade Unions and Emigration, 1840–80’, Population Studies, ix (1955).

    Google Scholar 

  2. C. Erickson, ‘The Encouragement of Emigration by British Trade Unions, 1850–1900’, Population Studies, iii (1949–50).

    Google Scholar 

  3. W. S. Shepperson, ‘Industrial Emigration in Early Victorian Britain’, Journal of Economic History, xiii (1953).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Manchester, UK

    A. E. Musson (Professor Emeritus of Economic History)

Authors
  1. A. E. Musson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Queen’s University, Belfast, UK

    L. A. Clarkson (Professor of Social History) (Professor of Social History)

Copyright information

© 1990 The Economic History Society

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Musson, A.E. (1990). British Trade Unions, 1800–1875. In: Clarkson, L.A. (eds) British Trade Union and Labour History A Compendium. Studies in Economic and Social History. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-10939-5_1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-10939-5_1

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-349-10941-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-349-10939-5

  • eBook Packages: Palgrave History CollectionHistory (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation