Typographical Association
The Typographical Association was a trade union representing typographers in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
History
The National Typographical Association collapsed in 1848, and delegates from across Yorkshire and Lancashire met at Angel Street in Sheffield to found the Provincial Typographical Association, intended to recreate the former Northern Typographical Union and to focus on paying benefits to members on strike. The union grew gradually from 481 members at the end of 1849 to 5,300 in 1877. In that year, it merged with a related relief association and dropped "Provincial" from its title.Based in Manchester, the union focussed on demanding members serve a seven-year apprenticeship. In 1894, it began admitting women. In the 1910s, the Association established a branch in London, but the Trades Union Congress instituted arbitration which restricted it from a fifteen-mile radius of central London, the rival London Society of Compositors having rights to organise in the city.
By 1946, membership had reached 13,958. In 1964, the Association merged with the London Typographical Society to create 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 | Norwich | 11,059 | 37.5 | 1 | |
| 1910 Jan general election | Norwich | 11,159 | 28.7 | 2 | |
| 1910 Dec general election | Norwich | 10,003 | 35.8 | 2 | |
| 1917 by-election | Norwich | unopposed | N/A | 1 | |
| 1918 general election | West Bromwich | 11,572 | 54.0 | 1 | |
| 1922 general election | Buckingham | 7,343 | 26.3 | 2 | |
| 1922 general election | West Bromwich | 14,210 | 50.6 | 1 | |
| 1923 general election | West Bromwich | 12,910 | 44.8 | 1 | |
| 1924 general election | West Bromwich | 15,384 | 51.6 | 1 | |
| 1929 general election | West Bromwich | 19,621 | 52.1 | 1 | |
| 1931 general election | West Bromwich | 17,204 | 44.4 | 2 | |
| 1935 general election | Blackburn | 34,423 | 23.8 | 4 | |
| 1935 general election | West Bromwich | 19,113 | 51.3 | 1 | |
| 1945 general election | Bristol South | 24,929 | 58.8 | 1 | |
| 1945 general election | Rossendale | 15,741 | 43.6 | 1 | |
| 1950 general election | Bristol South | 23,456 | 59.9 | 1 | |
| 1950 general election | Woodford | 18,740 | 30.0 | 2 | |
| 1951 general election | Bristol South | 24,444 | 63.3 | 1 | |
| 1955 general election | Bristol South | 24,954 | 64.1 | 1 | |
| 1959 general election | Bristol South | 27,010 | 60.8 | 1 |
In both the 1910 elections, Roberts was elected by taking second place in a two-seat constituency.