Boilermakers' unions - Amalgamated Society of Boilermakers, Blacksmiths, Shipbuilders and Structural Workers
A brief history
1834 - Society of Friendly Boilermakers formed.
1845 - name changed to the United Friendly Boilermakers Society.
1852 - merged with two other unions to become the United Society of Boilermakers and Iron and Steel Shipbuilders.
1963 - amalgamated with the Associated Blacksmiths, Forge and Smithy Workers' Society and Ship Constructors` and Shipwrights` Association to become the Amalgamated Society of Boilermakers, Blacksmiths, Shipbuilders and Structural Workers.
1982 - amalgamated with the General and Municipal Workers` Union to become the GMB.
GMB still exists today, click here to visit their Website.
For information on boilermakers' working lives and records for family history, click here
Boilermakers' union archives in our collection
Amalgamated Society of Boilermakers, Shipwrights, Blacksmiths and Structural Workers (TU/BOIL)
- Annual reports 1872-1985 (not complete)
- Executive minute books 1880-1985 (not complete)
- Conference reports 1952-1982
- Rule books, 1839-1977
- Members' lists, 1865-1973
- Other papers: agreements, membership cards, trade reports, shop steward's manual and notice of amalgamation with the GMB.
- Branch records including Belfast, Barrow, Birmingham, Bristol, Clyde, Dundee, East Cowes, Ellesmere Port, Jarrow no. 1, Grimsby and the Humber district, Leeds, London, Lytham, Manchester, Mersey, Nottingham and Derby, Portsmouth, Southampton, Southwick, Tees, Tyne and Wear, Yorkshire branches and South Wales district.
Sources about boilermakers' unions in the Library
J. E. Mortimer, History of the Boilermakers' Society, volume 1 1834-1906, Allen and Unwin (London) 1973
J. E. Mortimer, History of the Boilermakers' Society, volume 2 1906-1939, Allen and Unwin (London) 1982
J. E. Mortimer, History of the Boilermakers' Society, volume 3 1940-1989, Verso (London) 1994
D. C. Cummings, A historical survey of the Boiler Makers' and Iron and Steel Ship Builders' Society from August 1834 to August 1904, R. Robinson (Newcastle Upon Tyne) 1905
Other records are held at the Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick:
Amalgamated Society of Boilermakers, Shipwrights, Blacksmiths and Structural Workers (MSS.192/BM)