AMALGAMATED ENGINEERING UNION |Reference code(s)||: GB 0074
LMA/4428| |Held at||: London Metropolitan Archives - click here
to see details of the physical location of collection| |Full
title||: AMALGAMATED ENGINEERING UNION| |Level of description||:
Collection| |Extent||: 0.30 linear metres| |Name of
creator(s)||: Amalgamated Engineering Union| Amalgamated Society
of Engineers, Machinists, Smiths, Millwrights and Patternmakers
Trade unionism in engineering first emerged in the 1780s when a
Friendly Society of Mechanics was established in Bolton,
Blackburn and Chorley. By 1799 employers in London asked
Parliament to make it illegal for millwrights and engineers to
combine. This resulted in the passing of the Combination Acts in
1799 and 1800. In the 1820s local engineering unions began to
develop in industrial areas. This included the Steam Engine
Makers' Society (1824), Friendly Society of Mechanics (1826) and
the Friendly Society of Engineers (1833). In 1851 a successful
attempt was made to form a national u