Boilermakers made boilers and were also general metal workers.
Steam engines were used to power many machines, trains and ships in the 19th Century.
A boiler was an essential part of a steam engine as it was used to heat water to create steam. Boilers were made of plates of metal or tubes that were cut, bent and shaped by the Boilermakers.
Boilermakers also worked as general metal workers rolling, shearing, welding, riveting and making metal structures and machines. They built steam trains, constructed metal bridges and built iron and steel ships.
For information about boilermakers' unions, click here
Sources for family history in our collection
Amalgamated Society of Boilermakers, Blacksmiths, Shipbuilders and Structural Workers
The following information can be found in annual reports
Information | Dates | |
---|---|---|
New members | Name and registration number | 1872-1873, 1875-1983 |
Members expelled, black listed and in arrears | Name and registration number | 1872-1873, 1975-1983 |
Deceased members and members' wives | Name, age and cause of death | 1872-1973, 1976-1983 |
Accident benefit | Name, registration number and monies received | 1872-1975 |
Superannuation benefit | Name, registration number and monies received | 1872-1875, 1880-1973 |
Other benefits including sick pay | Name, registration number and monies received | 1872-1875, 1880-1882, 1885, 1887-1917 |
Branch Secretaries | Names and addresses | 1872-1873, 1875-1983 |
Resources about Boilermakers in the library collection
North East Trade Union Studies Information Unit, British shipbuilding: what next? - a study commissioned by the Amalgamated Society of Boilermakers (ca. 1977) - Shelfmark: AG Ships Box 1
Gordon H. H. Glasgow, Coroners and steam boiler explosions: the case of Richard Palmer in early Victorian Preston (2009) – Shelfmark: E56
Related Object of the Month
January 2013: Poster marking the 125th anniversary of the boilermakers' union - from the collection of Peter Carter
The poster was designed by HJ Davis, a union member from Devonport No 1 Branch who won the first prize in the Society's design competition according the July 1959 issue of their Monthly Report, which is held in the Library.