Masters and Journeymen

(1980) examines eighteenth-century trade unionism through nearly four hundred labour disputes in Britain between 1717 and 1800. It uses a series of primary materials – rule books, minutes and written agreements – to identify the elements of an ‘industrial relations system’ half a century before the Industrial Revolution. There are detailed accounts of several strikes in London and the provinces and much new documentation. The book concludes with a reinterpretation of the role of the state in eighteenth-century labour relations and throws new light on the origins of the Combination Acts.