Striking a Blow for Justice

 

Image by Lonpicman, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

We tend to think – wrongly – of trade unions as a twentieth-century phenomenon, with earlier examples being few and far between, so perhaps you’ve not considered using union records to build your family tree.

Trade Union Ancestors is a website whose author has compiled an extensive list of unions, trades clubs, and other organisations representing many industries throughout history. The list is quite breathtaking in its scope and variety – take a look at the A-Z list on the Contents page to get an idea of just how many groups are included.

Also provided are suggested books for researching the history of the labour movement, and a link to The National Archives’ resources which include records of Friendly Societies.

The “striking stories” section of the site gives accounts of industrial action, beginning with the stonemasons building Nelson’s Column in 1841 and more recently with the Great Hairdressers’ Strike of 1918.

And what if your striking forebears fell foul of the law?  You may want to check out what kinds of records could help you trace that part of their story at Our Criminal Ancestors where you can also read some case studies of bigamists, fraudsters, and poisoners, to name but a few.  Find out about the development of different forms of punishment and justice systems in the Timelines.  Further reading ideas and a glossary will help you get clued up on crime.

Once you’ve done that, you may have need of the information on Prison History, where you can search a database of records on hundreds of 19^th-century English penal institutions, or contribute your own ancestral tale of incarceration.

Hopefully, looking at all these free resources will keep you gainfully occupied and out of trouble...