United Textile Factory Workers' Association

The United Textile Factory Workers' Association (UTFWA) was a trade union federation in Great Britain. It was active from 1889 until 1975.

United Textile Factory Workers' Association

Founded	1889
Dissolved	1975
Location	United Kingdom
Members	100,522 (1946)[1]
Affiliations	Labour Party

Objectives

The federation was founded in 1889, to represent the various textile workers' unions in political matters.^[2] A successor to the Northern Counties Factory Acts Reform Association, it had a broader outlook, not just campaigning on the implementation and extension of the Factory Acts.^[3]

The UTFWA initially represented around 125,000 workers,^[4] three-quarters within twenty miles of Bolton in Lancashire.^[5] By the early twentieth century, its members were organised in the Amalgamated Association of Card and Blowing Room Operatives, Amalgamated Association of Operative Cotton Spinners, Amalgamated Association of Beamers, Twisters and Drawers, Amalgamated Weavers' Association, General Union of Loom Overlookers and Operative Bleachers, Dyers and Finishers Association.^[6] Later members included the Amalgamated Textile Warehousemen, the General Warp Dressers' Association of Lancashire and Yorkshire, and the Ball Warpers' Association.^[1]

The new federation had a General Council with about two hundred members of local unions, and a Legislative Council of full-time leaders. However, its member unions did not always engage with its structures, and the General Council did not meet between 1896 and 1899.^[7]

Early years

In its early years, the association attempted to introduce a bill reducing working hours, but dropped the proposal after it was only narrowly passed in a ballot of members. It also hoped to sponsor parliamentary candidates for both the Conservative Party and Liberal Party, but decided not to pursue this following a lack of interest from the Conservatives and opposition from James Mawdsley. However, it did achieve some success in campaigning against Indian tariffs on cotton imports, as the rates were reduced to below those on other materials.^[8]

In 1902, breaking with its previous policy, the UTFWA supported David Shackleton's candidature for the Labour Representation Committee (LRC) in Clitheroe.^[9] He was elected and, the following year, the Association affiliated to the LRC.^[2] The Cardroom Workers quit the association a few years later after none of its members were adopted as parliamentary candidates, but rejoined in 1916.^[10]

In 1920, some of its member unions moved for the association to extend its remit to industrial matters, but this was not adopted.^[11]

Demise

The federation was dissolved on 1 December 1975,^[12] following the decline of the industry and the merger of its two largest affiliates into the Amalgamated Textile Workers' Union.^[13]

Election results

The federation sponsored a large number of Labour Party candidates, many of whom won election.

Election	Constituency	Candidate	Votes	Percentage	Position	Union
1906 general election	Bolton	Alfred Henry Gill	10,416	37.1	2[14][15]	Spinners[16]
	Clitheroe	David James Shackleton	12,035	75.9	1[14][15]	Weavers[16]
1910 Jan general election	Bolton	Alfred Gill	11,864	30.5	2	Spinners[16]
	Clitheroe	David Shackleton	13,873	67.3	1	Weavers[16]
1910 Dec general election	Bolton	Alfred Gill	7,729	64.0	2	Spinners[16]
	Clitheroe	Albert Smith	12,107	67.7	1	Weavers[16]
	Preston	William Henry Carr	7,853	23.0	4	Cardroom[16]
1911 by-election	Oldham	William Cornforth Robinson	7,448	24.6	3	Beamers[16]
1918 general election	Clitheroe	Alfred Davies	9,578	44.7	1	Spinners[16]
	Fylde	William John Tout	7,400	35.1	2	Weavers
	Nelson and Colne	Albert Smith	14,075	62.0	1	Weavers[16]
	Oldham	William Cornforth Robinson	15,178	19.6	3	Beamers[16]
	Ormskirk	James Bell	6,545	37.2	1	Weavers
	Preston	Tom Shaw	19,213	25.8	1	Weavers
	Rossendale	Gilbert Wright Jones	7,984	35.1	2	Bleachers
	Sowerby	John William Ogden	7,306	32.7	2	Weavers
1920 by-election	Ashton-under-Lyne	William Cornforth Robinson	8,127	39.6	2	Beamers[16]
1922 general election	Birmingham Duddeston	Michael Brothers	8,331	38.9	2[17]	Cardroom
	Clitheroe	Alfred Davies	12,911	45.3	2[17]	Spinners[16]
	Elland	William C. Robinson	10,590	36.8	1[17]	Beamers[16]
	Middleton and Prestwich	Matthew Burrow Farr	10,505	41.5	2[17]	Cardroom
	Oldham	William John Tout	24,434	27.7	2[17]	Weavers
	Ormskirk	James Bell	8,374	41.3	2[18]	Weavers
	Preston	Tom Shaw	26,259	27.9	1[17]	Weavers
	Rossendale	Gilbert Wright Jones	11,029	36.5	2[17]	Bleachers
	Royton	John B. Battle	5,776	19.6	2[17]	Spinners[16]
	Sowerby	John William Ogden	7,496	25.5	3[17]	Weavers
1923 general election	Bolton	Albert Law	25,133	18.6	1[19]	Spinners[16]
	Chorley	Zeph Hutchinson	12,179	45.3	2[19]	Weavers
	Clitheroe	Alfred Davies	11,469	37.9	2[19]	Spinners[16]
	Elland	William C. Robinson	12,031	49.1	2[19]	Beamers[16]
	Middleton and Prestwich	Matthew Burrow Farr	7,849	28.7	3[19]	Cardroom
	Oldham	William John Tout	20,939	23.4	1[19]	Weavers
	Preston	Tom Shaw	25,816	34.4	1[19]	Weavers
1924 general election	Bolton	Albert Law	30,632	20.9	3[20]	Spinners[16]
	Chorley	Zeph Hutchinson	13,074	42.3	2[20]	Weavers
	Elland	William C. Robinson	11,690	39.5	1[20]	Beamers[16]
	Middleton and Prestwich	Matthew Burrow Farr	8,442	27.0	2[20]	Cardroom
	Oldham	William Tout	23,623	19.7	3[20]	Weavers
	Preston	Tom Shaw	27,009	26.3	1[20]	Weavers
	Rossendale	James Bell	9,951	32.4	2[20]	Weavers
1925 by-election	Oldham	William John Tout	21,702	45.2	2[21]	Weavers
1929 general election	Bolton	Albert Law	43,520	24.0	1[22]	Spinners[16]
	Bolton	Michael Brothers	37,888	20.9	2[22]	Cardroom
	Bury	James Bell	13,175	37.4	2[22]	Weavers
	Middleton and Prestwich	Matthew Burrow Farr	14,368	34.6	2[22]	Cardroom
	Preston	Tom Shaw	37,705	29.5	1[22]	Weavers
	Sowerby	William John Tout	14,223	37.2	1[22]	Weavers
1931 general election	Bolton	Michael Brothers	32,049	16.4	4[23]	Cardroom[24]
	Bolton	Albert Law	33,736	17.3	3[23]	Spinners[16]
	Bury	James Bell	10,532	29.7	2[23]	Weavers[24]
	Heywood and Radcliffe	James Stott	12,915	28.5	2[23]	Beamers[24]
	Middleton and Prestwich	Thomas McCall	10,796	25.4	2[23]	Warehousemen[24]
	Preston	Tom Shaw	25,710	18.0	3[23]	Weavers
	Royton	George Illingworth	5,913	14.4	3[23]	Spinners[16]
	Sowerby	William John Tout	11,857	31.7	2[23]	Weavers[24]
1935 general election	Blackburn	James Bell	34,571	23.9	3[25]	Weavers[26]
	Bolton	Albert Law	39,890	21.4	3[25]	Spinners[16]
	Bolton	John Lynch	39,871	21.4	4[25]	Warehousemen[26]
	Middleton and Prestwich	Joseph Nuttall	17,398	38.9	2[25]	Weavers[26]
	Oldham	Matthew Burrow Farr	29,647		4[25]	Cardroom[26]
	Sowerby	William John Tout	16,035	46.2	2[25]	Weavers[26]
1938 by-election	Farnworth	George Tomlinson	24,298	59.1	1[27]	Weavers
1945 general election	Farnworth	George Tomlinson	28,462	66.1	1[28]	Weavers
	Oldham	Frank Fairhurst	31,704	23.9	1[28]	Overlookers
	Preston	John William Sunderland	32,889	24.1	2[28]	Weavers
1950 general election	Farnworth	George Tomlinson	25,375	56.6	1[29]	Weavers
	Manchester Withington	Lewis Wright	14,206	32.6	2[29]	Weavers
	Oldham East	Frank Fairhurst	21,510	45.0	1[29]	Overlookers
1951 general election	Bury and Radcliffe	Lewis Wright	28,058	48.4	2[30]	Weavers
	Clitheroe	Harold Bradley	18,582	44.7	2[30]	Weavers
	Farnworth	George Tomlinson	26,297	59.2	1[30]	Weavers
1952 by-election	Farnworth	Ernest Thornton	21,834	59.9	1	Weavers
1955 general election	Clitheroe	William Rutter	16,671	43.5	2[31]	Overlookers
	Farnworth	Ernest Thornton	24,829	57.7	1[31]	Weavers
1959 general election	Clitheroe	William Rutter	16,103	41.9	2[32]	Overlookers
	Farnworth	Ernest Thornton	27,393	58.6	1[32]	Weavers
1964 general election	Farnworth	Ernest Thornton	28,492	62.1	1[33]	Weavers
1966 general election	Farnworth	Ernest Thornton	30,015	66.2	1[34]	Weavers
1970 general election	North Fylde	Raymond Hill	15,235	31.2	2[35]	Weavers

Leadership

Secretaries

1889: Thomas Birtwistle

c.1892: James Mawdsley

1902: Joseph Cross

1925: James Bell

1931: Cephas Speak

1943: Ernest Thornton

1953: Harold Bradley

1958: James Milhench

1968: Joseph Richardson

Presidents

1889: David Holmes

1890s: William Mullin

1913: William C. Robinson

1919: Walter Gee

1924: William Thomasson

1935: Archie Robertson

1953: William Roberts

1958: Harold Chorlton

1964: Jim Browning

See also

• History of trade unions in the United Kingdom

References

1. Labour Party, Report of the Forty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, p.77
2. D. A. Farnie, Region and Strategy in Britain and Japan, p.117
3. Andrew Bullen, The Lancashire Weavers Union, p.22
4. Teun Hoefnagel, Tussen traditie en emancipatie, p.328 (in Dutch)
5. P. F. Clarke, Lancashire and the New Liberalism, p.84
6. P. F. Clarke, Lancashire and the New Liberalism, p.93
7. David Howell, British Workers and the Independent Labour Party, 1888-1906, pp.58-59
8. P. F. Clarke, Lancashire and the New Liberalism, pp.84-88
9. P. F. Clarke, Lancashire and the New Liberalism, pp.91-92
10. Joseph L. White, The Limits of Trade Union Militancy: The Lancashire Textile Workers, 1910-1914, pp.151-152
11. H. A. Clegg et al, A History of British Trade Unions Since 1889: 1911-1933, p.305
12. Report of Annual Trades Union Congress, vol.108, p.379
13. "Amalgamated Textile Workers' Union", Archives Hub
14. Joel Dayton Moore, The Taff Vale Decision in British Labor History, pp.115-116
15. Frank Bealey and Henry Pelling, Labour and Politics, 1900-1906, pp.290-292
16. Fowler, Alan; Wyke (1987). The Barefoot Aristocrats: A History of the Amalgamated Association of Operative Cotton Spinners. Littleborough: George Kelsall. ISBN 0-946571-10-4.
17. Labour Party, Report of the Twenty-second Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.255-272. Note that this list is of the sanctioned candidates as of June 1922, and there were some changes between this date and the general election.
18. "Textile workers' campaign". Manchester Guardian. 19 November 1923.
19. "Textile Workers' Group". Manchester Guardian. 20 November 1923.
20. "Seven textile workers' candidates". Manchester Guardian. 15 October 1924.
21. Labour Party, Report of the Annual Labour Party Conference (1925), pp.25–27
22. "Cotton operatives' candidates". Manchester Guardian. 7 March 1929.
23. Annual Report of the Labour Party: 11–27. 1931. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
24. "Factory Workers & A Manifesto". Manchester Guardian. 15 October 1931.
25. "List of Endorsed Labour Candidates and Election Results, November 14, 1935". Annual Report of the Labour Party: 8–23. 1935.
26. "Textile Workers: Effort to Secure More Seats in Parliament". Manchester Guardian. 3 May 1935.
27. "Parliamentary by-elections". Report of the Annual Labour Party Conference: 57–63. 1939.
28. Labour Party, Report of the Forty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.232-248
29. "List of Parliamentary Labour candidates and election results, February 23rd, 1950". Report of the Forty-Ninth Annual Conference of the Labour Party: 179–198. 1950.
30. Labour Party, Report of the Fiftieth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.184-203
31. Labour Party, Report of the Fifty-Fourth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.255-275
32. Labour Party, Report of the Fifty-Eighth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.179-201
33. Labour Party, Report of the Sixty-Third Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.158-180
34. Labour Party, Report of the Sixty-Fifth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.308-330
35. Labour Party, Report of the Sixty-Ninth Annual Conference of the Labour Party, pp.289-312

Further reading

• Griffiths, Trevor. The Lancashire Working Classes: C. 1880-1930 (Oxford University Press on Demand, 2001).
• Procter, Stephen, and J. S. Toms. "Industrial Relations and Technical Change: Profits, Wages and Costs in the Lancashire Cotton Industry, 1880-1914." Journal of Industrial History 3#1 (2000): 54-72. online
• Singleton, J. Lancashire on the scrapheap: The cotton industry, 1945–70 (Oxford UP, 1991).
• Tippett, L.H.C. A portrait of the Lancashire cotton industry (Oxford UP, 1969).
• White, Joseph L. "Lancashire Cotton Textiles," in Chris Wrigley, A History of British industrial relations, 1875-1914 (Univ of Massachusetts Press, 1982) pp 209–229.