The National Typographical Association was an early

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

, operating on a national basis. The union was founded in 1830 as the Northern Typographical Union, a federation of small, local societies in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

, including the well-established

Manchester Typographical Society Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The two ...

. Led by John Backhouse, the Association aimed to co-ordinate the activities of its member organisations. By 1840, the union had 44 member societies, representing more than 1,000 members. During the early 1840s, the union began organising

typographer Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing ( leading), an ...

s in southern towns, but suffered setbacks due to a

recession In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction when there is a general decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be triggered by various ...

. As a result, it reconstituted itself as the "National Typographical Association" in 1844. By 1846, the organisation had 74 branches and 5,418 members. The London Union of Compositors had reconstituted itself as the South East Region, and the General Typographical Association of Scotland as the Northern Region. However, the organisation had insufficient income to cover disputes, and following a major strike in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

during 1848, it was forced to dissolve. The Association's South East Region re-established itself as the

London Society of Compositors 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 Londo ...

, while several societies in the north of England formed the Provincial Typographical Association. It was not until 1853 that the surviving Scottish societies formed the

Scottish Typographical Association Scottish Typographical Association was a labour union representing typesetter Typesetting is the composition of text by means of arranging physical ''type'' (or ''sort'') in mechanical systems or '' glyphs'' in digital systems represent ...

References

*Arthur Marsh, Victoria Ryan and John B. Smethurst, ''Historical Directory of Trade Unions'' Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom Typesetters 1830 establishments in the United Kingdom 1848 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Printing trade unions Organizations established in 1830 Organizations disestablished in 1848 Trade unions established in the 1830s Trade unions disestablished in the 1840s London Society of Compositors {{UK-trade-union-stub