Historical Directory of Trade Unions: Volume 5, Including Unions in Printing and Publishing, Local Government, Retail and Distribution, Domestic . Employment, Financial Services, Agriculture

Despite widespread interest in the trade union movement and its history, it has never been easy to trace the development of individual unions, especially those now defunct, or where name changes or mergers have confused the trail. In this respect the standard histories and industrial studies tend to stimulate curiosity rather than satisfy it. When was a union founded? When did it merge or dissolve itself, or simply disappear? What records survive and where can further details of its history be found? These are the kinds of question the Directory sets out to answer. Each entry is arranged according to a standard plan, as follows: 1. Name of union; 2. Foundation date: Name changes (if any) and relevant dates. Any amalgamation or transfer of engagements. Cessation, winding up or disappearance, with date and reasons where appropriate and available; 3. Characteristics of: membership, leadership, policy, outstanding events, membership (numbers). 4. Sources of information: books, articles, minutes etc; location of documentation.

Arthur Marsh was a Fellow in Industrial Relations at St. Edmund Hall Oxford. He read Modern History and PPE at Oxford University, before joining the Oxford University Agricultural Economics Research Institute; later he became a staff tutor at the Oxford Delegacy for Extra Mural Studies, where he specialized in trade union education. He was elected Senior Research Fellow at St. Edmunds Hall in 1964. Mr Marsh served on various commissions and acted as a consultant to many government bodies. He was the author of many books and papers and began to publish the Historical Directory series in 1984. He died on 2 August 1999. John B. Smethurst is a retired electrical engineer and a graduate of Sheffield and Warwick Universities. He was a founder member of the Eccles and District Local History Society and the Lancashire Federation of Local History Societies. The author of numerous papers and articles on the Labour movement, he is the membership secretary of the North West Labour History Group and a well known collector of Labour, co-operative and trade union memorabilia.