Description:Potter's Union Rule Book
This booklet outlines the rules and orders of the Potter's Union Society, established in Burslem in 1825 at the Swan Inn.
The contents of the rule book include coverage of the union, subscription fee, structure, entitlements, fines and other punishments for contravention of the rules.
There some amendments and additions to the rules at the end of the publication, indicating that this was not the first edition of the rule book.
Enoch Wood's View of the Union
Enoch Wood has added hand-written comments to some of the pages of the booklet. They were written in 1829, four years after the formation of the union.
The comments are critical of both the union and the government for allowing workers to openly organise associations for the purposes of collective bargaining.
He points out that the men are now financially worse off than they were before they became members of the union.
As a local pottery manufacturer the formation of a potter's union would not have been welcomed by Wood.
Legal trade union organisations
Various Guilds, journeyman organisations, or combinations had existed prior to this period but during the 1700s many acts were passed to restrict their influence.
In 1799 and 1800 The Combination Acts were passed, which prohibited combinations and strike action in England and Wales.
These acts were rarely used, because older laws carrying more severe penalties still existed. So despite these acts, combinations did form during the early 1800s, which were technically illegal. For this reason they were secretive and largely 'underground'.
Repeal of the Combination Acts in 1824 meant that combinations could form legally, although in 1825 ammendments were made, restricting the right to combine for specified actions.
These ammendments also made intimidation or 'molestation' of other workers illegal.
Local Potters and the Repeal of the Combination Acts
So what we have here is an example of local potters taking advantage of a less restrictive legal landscape and openly organising a union for the first time.
About this Document
This document was printed in 1826 by R. Timmis of Burslem. It was collected by local industrialist Enoch Wood and s now part of the collections at Stoke-on-Trent Museums.