British Trade Unions, 1707–1918, Part I, Volume 1

1707-1800

W Hamish Fraser

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781138751279
• eBook ISBN: 9781000419559
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: British History
• Index: History

Drawing from a variety of libraries and archives, this collection brings together material to illustrate the history of the development of trade unionism and industrial relations. It spans the period from the early journeymen's trade societies as they emerged in the 18th-Century through to the end of the First World War. Part I Volume 1 looks at1707-1800.

OF THE
RISE AND PROGRESS
OF THE
DISPUTE
BETWEEN THE
MASTERS AND JOURNEYMEN PRINTERS,
EXEMPLIFIED IN THE
TRIAL AT LARGE,
WITH REMARKS THEREUPON, AND THE
SPEECHES
OF
MESSRS. KNAPP, RAINE, AND HOVELL,
BOTH ON THE TRIAL AND AT THE TIME OF
PASSING SENTENCE;
TOGETHER WITH THOSE OF THE
COUNSEL FOR THE PROSECUTION:
WITH
NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS
UPON THE WHOLE

Published for the Benefit of the Men in Confinement.

LONDON:

SOLD BY J. RIDGWAY, YORK STREET, ST. JAMES’S.

1799.

[Price One Shilling.]

TO THE READER.

IT being customary for those who intrude themselves upon the Public to apologize for so doing, we deem it necessary to say, that finding our cafe has excited much enquiry and concern, not only among the gentlemen of our own business, but also among many others, at once respectable and numerous, we think it our duty to caution our friends, and the public in general, against confiding in vague and erroneous report. We are sorry to have so much reason to recommend this caution, from the strange and unaccountable explanations given by some; whilst we, on the other hand, are as happy to embrace this opportunity of returning our sincere and grateful thanks to those friends, who have so nobly stepped forward to alleviate, in some degree, the punishment inflicted upon us; to explain which it is the intention of the following pages, as well as to shew how far we have really merited it.

“Hail, Friendship! softener of the human heart;

The happy few, who offer at thy shrine,

Care cannot wound with half so deep a stroke,

As meets the selfish churl, when ills surround.

And ills will come, though Virtue guard the door.”

But let the Reader always bear in mind, that the law fays, However good the intention, however good the motive, it is not the subject of consideration in this cafe, but the deed itself! we therefore humbly submit the Account of the Rife and Progress of the Dispute, which occasioned the prosecution; firmly declaring, that every step taken by us in the business was done with the sole view of putting an end to the continual cavil, on the score of apprentices; and what considerably excited us to this, was the happy effect a similar proceeding had been attended witth a few years back.

For a considerable time, previous to the year 1794, we can safely aver there was not a week passed, but that, in some printing office or other, discussion arose concerning the price of work, scarcely two paying alike. It was suggested to the matters, that it was essential to the peace of all concerned in the business, to have a scale of prices, that all matters might pay the fame sums for similar works. After much solicitation on the part of the men, this was complied with; and, as it produced the desired effect, we were encouraged to flatter ourselves that a similar arrangement, with respect to apprentices, might be as beneficially adopted; allowing each matter to take in proportion to the number of men he employed; and this measure, we trusted, would have been followed by the fame pleasing consequences to both parties.

The Reader may rely upon the truth of the statement, and the remarks made thereon; as we solemnly declare we have no other motive than to explain the object we had in our minds, and to offer it as a beacon to other societies. Not only will these members see how egregiously we were deceived in our expeditions, but we hope, sincerely hope, it will also put our friends on their guard how they act, however good their intention, however good their motive.

E. ATKINSON,

L. BALL,

J. TURK,

J. WARWICK, and

N. LYNHAM.

N. B. By means of this prosecution it has been attempted to persuade the public, that our intention, was to hinder the matters from taking any apprentices; this we flatter ourselves does only not appear in evidence, but that the contrary fact is made manifest.

TRIAL AT LARGE,
OCCASIONED BY THE
DISPUTE
BETWEEN THE
MASTERS AND JOURNEYMEN PRINTERS.

ON SATURDAY the 7th day of JULY, 1798, EDWARD ATKINSON, LUKE BALL, JOHN TURK, JOHN WARWICK, and NATHANAEL LYNHAM, were tried at the OLD BAILEY, upon an Indictment for a Conspiracy.

Mr. Gurney opened the indictment, which states, That the Defendants, together with divers other persons, whose names to the Jurors are as yet unknown, being workmen and journeymen in the art, mystery, and occupation of a Printer, and wickedly and oppressively contriving and intending, unjustly and unlawfully, to refrain, aggrieve, and injure, the Masters in the said art, mystery, and occupation of a Printer, in the lawful exercise of their said art, mystery, and occupation, on the 7th of April, in the 38th year of King George III. with force and arms, at the parish of St. Bridget, alias Bride, in the ward of Farringdon Without in London, did unlawfully assemble and meet together, and being so unlawfully assembled and met together, then and there unlawfully, wickedly, and unjustly, did conspire and combine, confederate and agree together, by indirect means, as much as in them lay, to refrain end prevent the said Masters in the said art, mystery, and occupation from taking Jo many Apprentices in the said art, mystery, and occupation, as by law they were entitled to take: That in order to give effect to, and in further pursuance of, the said unlawful conspiracy, the said defendants, together with the said other persons, to the jurors aforesaid unknown, afterwards to wit, on the said 7th of April, 38 Geo. III. aforesaid, did unlawfully frame a certain unlawful order, rule, and regulation to restrain and limit the number of Apprentices to be taken by the said Masters in their art, mystery, and occupation aforesaid; that in further pursuance of the said unlawful conspiracy, combination, and agreement, the said defendants, together with the said other persons to the jurors aforesaid unknown, did convey, and cause and procure to be conveyed and sent to divers journeymen and workmen in the said art, my fiery, and occupation of a Printer, then and there in the actual employment and service of divers Masters in the said art, mystery, and occupation of a Printer, a recommendation to leave and abandon the service of the said masters, by reason that the said masters, in whose employment the said journeymen and workmen then and there respectively were, would not comply with the said unlawful order, rule, and regulation above mentioned, and did thereby then and there prevail upon divers of the the said journeymen and workmen to leave and abandon the employment and service of their respective Masters in the art, mystery, and occupation aforesaid, with whom they then and there were respectively employed, to the great prejudice and manifest injury of the said matters in the laid art, mystery, and occupation, to the great destruction of trade, in contempt of our said Lord the King and his Laws, to the evil example of all others in like manner offending, and against the peace of our said Lord the King, his crown, and dignity.

SECOND COUNT.—That the defendants, together with the said other persons to the jurors aforesaid unknown, so being journeymen and workmen aforesaid in the said art, mystery, and occupation, unlawfully intending to injure and oppress the laid matters in the said art, mystery, and occupation, to prejudice them in the lawful exercise of their said art, mystery, and occupation, with force of arms unlawfully, wickedly, corruptly, and maliciously, did conspire, combine, confederate, and agree together, by indirect means, as much as in them lay, to prevent and restrain the said masters in the said art, mystery, and occupation from taking so many Apprentices in the said art, mystery, and occupation as by law they were entitled to do (1), to the manifest prejudice and destruction of the said art and mystery of printing, to the great injury of the said masters in the said art, mystery, and occupation, in contempt of our said Lord the King and his laws, to the evil example of all others in like manner offending, and against the peace of our said Lord the King, his crown, and dignity.

THIRD COUNT.—That the defendants, together with the said other persons to the jurors aforesaid unknown, so being such journeymen and workmen in the said art, mystery, and occupation aforesaid, contriving and unjustly intending unlawfully to injure, aggrieve, and restrain the said matters in the said art, mystery, and occupation aforesaid, unlawfully, wickedly, maliciously, and corruptly, did conspire, combine, confederate, and agree together, by indirect means, as much as in them lay, to prejudice, aggrieve, impoverish, restrain, and obstruct the said Masters in the said art, mystery, and occupation, in the due, fair, and lawful exercise of the said art, mystery, and occupation of a Printer, to the great and manifest prejudice and destruction of the said art, mystery, and occupation of printing, to the great injury, ruin, and impoverishment of the laid matters, in the said art, mystery, and occupation, in contempt of our said Lord the King and his laws, to the evil example of all others in like manner offending, and against the peace of our said Lord the King, his crown, and dignity.

• (1) The journeymen endeavoured, by indirect means, to prevent and restrain the masters from taking so many apprentices as by law they were entitled to do. This is rather a curious accusation; since the journeymen very well know, that the LAW entitles a man to have 50 or 500 or 5000, or any other number, however large, if he chuses to bind them; but the REASON of a moderate man says, that too many apprentices introduced into any trade cannot fail to overturn that occupation where such undue number of apprentices shall be introduced, although it be according to law, as even the apprentices themselves, so taken, when their times should expire, would find the utmost difficulty, if not the utter impossibility, of procuring a comfortable subsistence by that profession they had laboured seven years to obtain a right to follow. Nav, even cur wise progenitors had similar scruples, and we find that they complained to the Court of the Company of Stationers, so long as eight and twenty years ago, and that the members of that Court, having similar ideas, passed the following resolution:
  STATIONERS’ HAIL.
  The above order is copied from a Table hung up in the lobby of the court room of the Company of Stationers. Since the above order it has been the constant practice of the Stationers’ Company, to snake every person who wants to bind an apprentice sign a paper, expressing how many he has; and, for a long time, they refused to bind more than four to any one person. Is it not reasonable to ask, Why it has been discontinued?
  “At a Court held on Tuesday the 7th of March, 1775,
  Complaint having been made of some masters of this Company binding too many apprentices,
  It is Ordered,
  That, for the future, every master before he binds an apprentice shall send into Court, in writing, to the Master, a list of the names of the apprentices be has at such time in his service.
  And it is further Ordered,
  That the said order shall be printed and hung up in the lobby of the court room.”

Gentlemen, with respect to the present case, the trade of printing, in this metropolis, has been interrupted from time to time by the ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgments
• General Introduction
• Further Reading
• Selection of Texts
• Introduction
• By the King, a Proclamation, for Putting in Execution the Laws made against Unlawful Clubs and Combinations (1717)
• The Case of the Master Taylors Residing within the Cities of London and Westminster, in Relation to the Great Abuses Committed by their Journeymen [1721]
• An Abstract of the Master-Taylors Bill before the Honourable House of Commons [1721]
• Answers for William Clark Deacon of the Taylors in Edinburgh to the Petition of Patrick McDuff Journeyman Taylor in the Canongate (1728)
• The Case of the Journeymen Taylors and Journeymen Staymakers, Residing within the Cities of London and Westminster, and Weekly Bills of Mortality [1752]
• The Worsted Small-Ware Weavers Apology (1756)
• Thomas Percival, A Letter to a Friend: Occasioned by the Late Disputes betwixt the Check-makers of Manchester, and their Weavers [1759]
• Memorial for the Colliers of Scotland (1762)
• Information for the Magistrates and Procurator-fiscal of the Bailie-court of Aberdeen, Pursuers, against the Journeymen-woolcombers in Aberdeen, Defenders (1762)
• Articles of Continuation of the Society of Journeymen Taylors in Glasgow [1775]
• An Impartial Representation of the Case of the Poor Cotton Spinners in Lancashire, &c. (1780)
• To the Nobility, Gentry, Magistrates, and Representatives in Parliament... The Humble Petition of the Poor Spinners [1788?]
• Answers for the Incorporation of Master Shoemakers in and about Edinburgh; to the Bill of Suspension and Liberation for Peter Arnot, &c. (1798)
• Replies for Peter Arnot, &c, to the Answers for the Incorporation of Master Shoemakers (1798)
• [Edward Atkinson], [An Account] of the Rise and Progress of the Dispute between the Masters and Journeymen Printers (1799)
• An Abstract of An Act to Prevent Unlawful Combinations amongst Journeymen to Raise Wages &c. (1799)
• A Full and Accurate Report of the Proceedings of the Petitioners against a Bill intituled ‘A Bill to Prevent Unlawful Combinations of Workmen’ (1800)
• Explanatory Notes
• Permissions