The Engineers
Amalgamated Society of Engineers
(ASE)
The Amalgamated Society of Engineers (ASE)
was formed in 1851 by an amalgamation of several small engineering
unions and was originally known as the Amalgamated Society of
Engineers, Machinists, Smiths, Millwrights & Patternmakers.
Beginning with a membership of 5,000 the Society had reached 11, by
the end of its first year. Quite soon the union was opening
Branches overseas, Sydney in 1852, Montreal in 1854 followed by
Branches in Bombay, Constantinople, Malta and New Zealand.
A Branch was opened in Buffalo, New York
State in 1861 and within ten years there were more than 20 Branches
in the USA. The ASE continued to grow with a membership of 34,711
in 1870 and 67,928 by 1890. The union provided the General
Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU) with its first General Secretary,
Isaac Mitchell. At the end of World War One with a membership of
over 320,000 the Society invited 22 other unions in the engineering
industry to discuss amalgamation. Eventually on July 1st 1920 the
ASE along with nine other societies formed the Amalgamated
Engineering Union (AEU).
The Engineers - continued
