# London Society of Compositors

The London Society of Compositors was a British trade union, representing print workers in London.

## History

The union was founded as the London Union of Compositors in 1834 by the merger of the London Trade Society of Compositors and the London General Trade Society of Compositors. The following year, it was joined by the News Society of Compositors. In 1845, the union was officially dissolved, its members designating it the South Eastern District of the National Typographical Association. The national organisation collapsed, and the London group re-established itself as the "London Society of Compositors".
The union had a membership of over 10,000 by 1910, and attempted to expand outside London, but the Trades Union Congress instituted arbitration which limited it to a fifteen-mile radius of central London, the Typographical Association having rights to organise in the remainder of England.
In 1955, the Society merged with the Printing Machine Managers' Trade Society and was renamed the London Typographical Society. In 1964, it merged with the Typographical Association to form the National Graphical Association.

## Election results

The union sponsored Labour Party candidates in several Parliamentary elections, many of whom won election.
| Election | Constituency | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Position |
| 1906 general election | Deptford | C. W. Bowerman | 6,236 | 52.2 | 1 |
| 1910 Jan general election | Deptford | C. W. Bowerman | 6,880 | 52.0 | 1 |
| 1910 Dec general election | Deptford | C. W. Bowerman | 6,357 | 51.4 | 1 |
| 1918 general election | Deptford | C. W. Bowerman | 14,073 | 54.4 | 1 |
| 1918 general election | Southwark South East | Thomas Naylor | 2,718 | 27.4 | 2 |
| 1921 by-election | Southwark South East | Thomas Naylor | 6,561 | 57.0 | 1 |
| 1922 general election | Deptford | C. W. Bowerman | 18,512 | 52.6 | 1 |
| 1922 general election | Southwark South East | Thomas Naylor | 7,734 | 43.6 | 2 |
| 1923 general election | Deptford | C. W. Bowerman | 21,576 | 63.0 | 1 |
| 1923 general election | Southwark South East | Thomas Naylor | 9,374 | 54.3 | 1 |
| 1924 general election | Deptford | C. W. Bowerman | 21,903 | 54.5 | 1 |
| 1924 general election | Southwark South East | Thomas Naylor | 11,635 | 54.3 | 1 |
| 1929 general election | Deptford | C. W. Bowerman | 26,848 | 55.2 | 1 |
| 1929 general election | Southwark South East | Thomas Naylor | 13,527 | 60.4 | 1 |
| 1931 general election | Deptford | C. W. Bowerman | 22,244 | 45.6 | 2 |
| 1931 general election | Southwark South East | Thomas Naylor | 9,678 | 46.7 | 2 |
| 1935 general election | Islington South | William Cluse | 12,526 | 52.4 | 1 |
| 1935 general election | Southwark South East | Thomas Naylor | 11,942 | 63.2 | 1 |
| 1945 general election | Islington South | William Cluse | 12,893 | 72.5 | 1 |
| 1945 general election | Southwark South East | Thomas Naylor | 9,599 | 76.9 | 1 |

## General Secretaries

* 1848: Edward Edwards
* 1850: John Boyett
* 1854: William Cox
* 1857: William Beckett
* 1863: Henry Self
* 1881: C. J. Drummond
* 1892: C. W. Bowerman
* 1906: Thomas Naylor
* 1938: Alfred M. Wall
* 1945: Robert Willis
* 1955: Robert Willis and Percy Astins
* 1956: Robert Willis