Blacksmiths' union - Associated Blacksmiths, Forge and Smithy Workers Society
A brief history
1845 - Associated Society of Blacksmiths formed. It had the alternative name of Associated Blacksmiths of Scotland.
1910 - changed name to the Associated Blacksmiths and Ironworkers Society.
1912 - Blacksmiths' Union joined
1914 - National United Society of Smiths and Hammermen joined.
1920s - changed name to the Associated Blacksmiths, Forge and Smithy Workers Society.
1963 - amalgamated with the United Society of Boilermakers and Iron and Steel Shipbuilders to form the Amalgamated Society of Boilermakers, Blacksmiths, Shipbuilders and Structural Workers and later the GMB.
For information about blacksmiths' working lives and records for family history, click here.
Blacksmiths' union archives in our collection
Associated Blacksmiths', Forge and Smithy Workers' Society (TU/BLACK)
- Annual reports 1920-1950 (not complete)
- Executive Council, trade union and health insurance minute books 1911-1960 (not complete)
- Circulars 1919-1926
Sources about Blacksmiths' unions in the Library
Angela Tuckett, The blacksmith's history: what smithy workers gave trade unionism, Lawrence and Wishart (London) 1974
Other records are held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick:
Associated Blacksmiths, Forge and Smithy Workers' Society (MSS.192/AB)