The Vellum (Account Book) Binders' Trade Society was a British trade union formed in 1823, and with a tiny membership representing a small fraction of bookbinders. It is perhaps best remembered in contemporary times for its president from 1892 to 1898, Frederick Rogers, who in 1900 acted as the first chairman of the Labour Representation Committee, the immediate forerunner of the

British Labour Party The Labour Party is a List of political parties in the United Kingdom, political party in the United Kingdom that has been described as an alliance of Social democracy, social democrats, Democratic socialism, democratic socialists and trade u ...

. Rogers describes the union as small, old-fashioned and decidedly conservative. He assumed office after an unsuccessful industrial action from 1891 to 1892, in support of an eight-hour working day, resulted in the halving of its membership and severe depletion of its funds. In 1911, it amalgamated with the

Bookbinders and Machine Rulers' Consolidated Union The Bookbinders and Machine Rulers' Consolidated Union (B&MRCU) was a trade union representing people involved in the manufacturing of books in the United Kingdom. The union was founded on 19 October 1835 in Manchester as the Bookbinders' Consol ...

, the

Society of Day-working Bookbinders of London, Westminster, etc A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societi ...

and the London Consolidated Society of Journeymen Bookbinders to form the National Union of Bookbinders and Machine Rulers.

Secretaries

:1892: A. Goodhew :1909:

Edward Friend Edward Nicholas Friend (died 14 February 1948), also known as Teddy Friend, was a British people, British trade union leader. Friend worked in London as a bookbinder, specialising in binding account books using vellum. This was a small but estab ...

References

{{reflist, 30em 1823 establishments in the United Kingdom 1911 disestablishments Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom Trade unions established in the 1820s Trade unions disestablished in 1911 Bookbinders' trade unions Trade unions based in London