FMP Union Membership Records, my Dad and family

I was so pleased when FMP added Union Membership Records as I was brought up in a Union Household and many of my Uncles were in one Union or another. So I have to report disappointment after an initial search of the FMP Data base. I will return to that in a moment but first a brief note about my Dad.

My Dad was a strong Socialist and supporter of the Labour party. Born in Birmingham –“the City of 1000 trades” as he was never tired of telling me. Never without his Daily Herald a strong Socialist newspaper (in which the TUC had a controlling interest) and of course the Daily Mirror.

The Daily Herald I remember as a child was in its 4th incarnation and owned by Odhams (the TUC having sold their controlling stake in 1930). They ran it still with socialist leaning until they sold out in 1961 to Murdoch’s International Publishing Corporation. In 1964 they changed its name to The Sun and typical of Murdoch, switched allegiances to the right and introduced page three girls; the rest is history.

A great believer in Unions (and knowledgeable on how they came about and what life was like for the working man before they were formed) and I learned much of this as a boy. By the time he retired in 1975 he had worked his way up the Union ladder to become Shop Steward. (Another family member in the TGWU made Area Convenor but that's another story). Dad worked for Joseph Lucas (“King of the Road”) in the Battery department and his trade was Lead (the metal) Die Caster. As a child I would occasionally be taken to see his automated Workshop where at the time he was Shop Steward. He turned down the Foremanship when the men voted him Shop Steward; a role he enjoyed and in which he was highly regarded by Management and the workforce. (I have stories in my Tribal Pages of his time in this role). His Union by the way was The National Union of General & Municipal Workers (GMB) which in its day had quite a bit of clout and was one of the top three affiliated to the Labour Party.

With all this in mind I was eager to investigate the FMP Union Records and what did I find, well actually nothing; at least so far. I know of ancestors in both paternal and maternal lines who were at one time and another union members, so I thought there was good chance that out of FMP’s advertised 3,000,000 records I would discover some at least. Sadly this has not been the case. So clearly it is all to do with the Unions included in the FMP data base which cover the following generic trades:

Carpentry, Joinery, Cabinetmakers, Woodworkers – nothing found so far which is strange because my Tree includes a fair few Ancestors who were Joiners & Cabinetmakers.

Lithographic Printers (Designers, Engravers) - one or two of these also but none found so far

Railway men – Very few in the family, but have yet to search

Boilermakers & Iron Shipbuilders – again none that I recall but this union covered a multitude of individual trades and partly aligned I believe with the GMB. Even so nothing found

As said many times when searching records, less is best and so it is with the Union records. It totally ignores the county of interest and displays candidates from all over the country. It doesn’t even like first names, and much prefers an initial with or without a wild card. In the end I found it just best to use the surname alone and even leave out dates.

Taking my four prime lines a search for ‘Spiers’ produces 346 results; with ascending initials and from all over England & Wales; no family member found so far. 'Westbury' produces 88 (a lot of my Westbury’s’ were Carpenter/ Joiners/Cabinet Makers); but none found so far. 'Adams' the princely total of 5310 but that is because of the popularity of the surname; no hits so far but still have a fair way to go. Finally 'Witts' produces 146 hits, mostly it appears are Railway workers but none I recognise.

I am sure FMP will add to their Union records in time (Trade Union membership even today tops 6 million (Unison & Unite have 3 million between them) and by 1980 was closer to 13 million! So by this token FMP’s data base of Union Records represents about 25% of union membership; a worthwhile contribution but way to go to be truly useful.

However to be fair, if your Ancestors' trades happen to cover those shown above -particularly Railway workers and Boilermen, perhaps even Carpenters & Joiners - then give it a try.

 

I found an ancestor easily on the FMP Union lists. Probably because he was a railway man and I'd already found his employment record on Ancestry so I had the dates.
I found that employment record really interesting. Here is the note I made about it:

"Working for London & South West Railways from 1889 (age 17) to March 1903 when he resigned.
Salary started at 30 pounds per year rising to 90 pounds per year when he left."

 

I found my great uncle who was a railway man.
He was in twice in 2 different branches.

Which records on Ancestry had his employment record? I wondered if I might find more information about my great uncle.

 

This is the Ancestry Railway site

 

Thanks Patzy,I had not found that bit of Ancestry, but no info on my relative.
Thanks again,
K