Trade unionship began in the late 18th century with the start of the Industrial Revolution. By 1892, more than 1.5 million people were members in the UK. Just under 100,000 were women, mostly working in textile factories and mills.
Significant collections of trade union records can be found in the Working Class Movement Library in Salford (); these include print unions, gas workers, boilermakers and shipwrights. In addition, the Museum of English Rural Life at the University of) holds records of agricultural trade unionism, while the Trades Union Congress Library Collections preserved by London Metropolitan University include a wide range of journals, pamphlets, periodicals and other material ().
