Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners

The Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners (ASC&J) was a New Model Trade Union in the 1860s in the United Kingdom, representing carpenters and joiners.

Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners
Founded1860
Date dissolved1921
Merged intoAmalgamated Society of Woodworkers, Federation of Industrial Manufacturing and Engineering Employees, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America
Members65,000 (1900)
AffiliationTUC
Key peopleRobert Applegarth (General Secretary), Alexander Gordon Cameron (General Secretary)
CountryUnited Kingdom, Ireland, United States of America, Australia, Canada

History

The formation of the Society was spurred by the Stonemason's strike, 1859, which succeeded in winning a nine-hour day. In 1860, a number of small societies formed the Amalgamated.[1] Robert Applegarth was the general secretary from 1862 to 1871.[2]

The union also established branches in the United States, Australia, and Canada.[3] The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America took over its U.S. branches in 1913, and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners took over its Australian branches in 1917.[4]

By 1892, the union had 37,588 members, and by 1900 it had 65,000. It merged with or absorbed a number of smaller unions including the Carpenters of Dublin, the Carpenteres of Cork, the Mersey Ship Joiners and other small unions in Britain and Ireland in the 1890s. In 1911, it merged with the Associated Carpenters and Joiners of Scotland, while in 1918 the Amalgamated Union of Cabinetmakers joined the union, which renamed itself as the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters, Cabinetmakers and Joiners. In 1921, the union merged with the General Union of Carpenters and Joiners, forming the Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers[1]

Election results

The union sponsored Labour Party candidates in each Parliamentary election from 1906 onwards.

ElectionConstituencyCandidateVotesPercentagePosition
1905 by-electionBelfast NorthWilliam Walker3,96647.22[5]
1906 general electionBelfast NorthWilliam Walker4,61648.52[5]
WesthoughtonWilliam Tyson Wilson9,26260.21[5]
1907 by-electionBelfast NorthWilliam Walker4,19441.12
1910 Jan general electionLeith BurghsWilliam Walker2,72418.93
Liverpool KirkdaleAlexander Gordon Cameron3,92148.62
WesthoughtonWilliam Tyson Wilson9,06453.21
1910 by-electionLiverpool KirkdaleAlexander Gordon Cameron3,42744.52
1910 Dec general electionJarrowAlexander Gordon Cameron4,89230.63
WesthoughtonWilliam Tyson Wilson9,06453.21
1918 general electionKingston upon Hull North WestAlfred Gould3,52819.33[6]
Walthamstow WestValentine McEntee4,16729.32[6]
WesthoughtonWilliam Tyson Wilson11,84963.91[6]
Willesden WestSamuel Viant7,21737.22[6]
Woolwich WestAlexander Gordon Cameron7,08834.52[6]

Leadership

General Secretaries
1860: J. Lea
1862: Robert Applegarth
1871: John D. Prior
1881: James S. Murchie
1888: Francis Chandler
1919: Alexander Gordon Cameron

Assistant General Secretaries
1915: Alexander Gordon Cameron
1920: Frank Wolstencroft

Footnotes
  1. Papers of The Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners
  2. May, Trevor An Economic and Social History of Great Britain 1760-1990 2nd edition, 1996
  3. Annual Report on Labour Organizations (Report). Department of Labour (Canada). 1912. p. 63. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  4. Historical Highlights of the Carpenter Locals in Victoria Archived 2012-08-19 at the Wayback Machine, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, Local 1598
  5. Frank Bealey and Henry Pelling, Labour and Politics, 1900-1906, pp.290-292
  6. Higgenbottam, Samuel (1939). Our Society's History. Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers. p. 283.

References
  • 175 Years of Building Trade Unionism, UCATT, 2002
  • Briggs, Asa. “Robert Applegarth and the Trade Unions”, in Asa Briggs, Victorian People (1955) pp. 168–196. online
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