William Leigh - Hyde and District Spinners Association.

We recently featured an article sent to us by Peter Fallon about his Great-Great Grandfather William Ovens .

William Ovens was involved in setting up the Hyde and District Operative Spinners Association with five other men.
Here is the memorial of one of the other men, William Leigh, which stands in the cemetery of Hyde Chapel.

Sacred in the Memory of William Leigh of Hyde who departed this life April 6th 1878 in the 50th year of his age.

He was one of the founders of, and secretary to the Hyde Operative Spinners Association . For a period of 20 years, during which time he used his energies in promoting their welfare in every possible way, and in adjusting any difficulty arising between Employers and Employed.
His exertions on their behalf  were not confimed to his own district but any movement having for its object the application of his class always found in him a ready worker.
During a visit to London to promote their interests he caught a severe cold which brought on his death and in recognition of all his services the association (assisted by a few friends) have placed over his remains this tribute of their esteem.





 

Association of Operative Cotton Spinners

By 1800 over thirty cotton towns in Lancashire, Cheshire and Derbyshire had local spinners' friendly societies or trade clubs. The first documented society was at Stockport in 1785. Other important spinning organizations existed in Preston (1795), Manchester (1795) and Oldham (1797). These societies became illegal under the terms of the 1799 and 1800 Combination Acts. Sometimes societies were reformed during industrial disputes such as the spinners' strike in Manchester in 1810. After the repeal of the Combination Acts in 1824 and 1825, spinners had more freedom to form associations of workers. In 1828 John Doherty became leader of the Manchester Spinners' Union. The following year textile factory owners began imposing wage reductions on their workers. In an attempt to persuade the employers to change their minds, members of the union went on strike. The strike lasted for six months but in October the spinners, facing starvation, were forced to accept the lower wages being offered by the factory owners. John Doherty realised that it was very difficult for local unions to win industrial disputes so he organised a meeting of spinners from all over Britain. The result of the meeting was the formation of the Grand General Union of Operative Spinners of the United Kingdom. Doherty's union only lasted two years and it was not until 1845 that a similar organisation was formed. This time it was a group of spinners in Bolton who created the Association of Operative Cotton Spinners. Despite its name, few people joined from outside that part of Lancashire. Other attempts at forming a national union took place in Preston in 1852 with the Friendly Association of Hand Mule Spinners. This time membership included workers from Lancashire, Cheshire, Yorkshire and Derbyshire. However, it was not until 1870 with the establishment of the Amalgamated Association of Operative Cotton Spinners that the trade had a real national union.

Thanks to  spartacus.schoolnet. for the above information.