Rossendale Weavers', Winders' and Beamers' Association explained

Rossendale Weavers' Association
Full Name:Rossendale Weavers', Winders' and Beamers' Association
Location Country:England
Affiliation:North East Lancashire Amalgamated Weavers' Association (1877 - 1880)
Amalgamated Weavers' Association (1892 - 1974)
Amalgamated Textile Workers' Union (1974 - 1977)
Members:2,800 (in 1907)[1]
Founded:1873
Dissolved:1977
Merged:Burnley, Nelson, Rossendale and District Textile Workers' Union
Headquarters:245 Bacup Road, Rawtenstall

The Rossendale Weavers', Winders' and Beamers' Association was a trade union representing cotton industry workers in the Rossendale area of Lancashire in England.

The union was founded in 1873, and affiliated to the North East Lancashire Amalgamated Weavers' Association in 1877. It left this "First Amalgamation" in 1880 and remained unaffiliated until 1892, when it belatedly joined the Amalgamated Weavers' Association.[2]

By the 1890s, the union had more than 1,500 members, and this continued to grow, reaching 2,800 in 1907 before falling back a little to 2,000 by 1920. Thereafter, it declined in line with employment in the Lancashire textile trade, falling to only 1,020 in 1960. That year, the Haslingden Weavers' Association merged in, the union relocating its office to Haslingden, and renamed itself as the Rossendale Valley Textile Workers' Association, membership recovering to 2,555.

In 1977, the union merged into the Burnley, Nelson and District Textile Workers' Union, which accordingly renamed itself as the Burnley, Nelson, Rossendale and District Textile Workers' Union.

General Secretaries

J. Wright

1890s: John Farron

1926: Albert Lomax

1960: Mary Abbott

Notes and References

  1. Book: Report on Trade Unions in 1905-1907. 1909. Board of Trade. London. 30–35.
  2. Book: Marsh. Arthur. Ryan. Victoria. Smethurst. John B.. Historical Directory of Trade Unions. 4. 1994. Ashgate. Farnham. 9780859679008. 117.