Operative Bricklayers' Society

The Operative Society of Bricklayers was formed in 1829 and joined the Operative Builders' Union in 1831. It survived that union's collapse in 1834, but in 1848 divisions led to a split into two separate unions: the Operative Bricklayers' Society, also called the London Order, and the Friendly Operative Bricklayers' Trade Protection Society, which went through several name changes but was commonly known as the Manchester Order or Manchester Unity.

In 1921, these two societies reunited when they amalgamated with the Operative Society of Masons, Quarrymen and Allied Trades of England and Wales to form the Amalgamated Union of Building Trade Workers.

The society only covered London until 1861, when it began to expand, reaching Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire and Warwickshire in 1861, Devon, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Staffordshire in 1862, Shropshire in 1863, Northamptonshire and Derbyshire in 1865, Berkshire, Norfolk and County Durham in 1866, Somerset and Lancashire in 1867, Liverpool and Cheshire in 1869, Manchester in 1870, Cambridgeshire and Newcastle in 1872, Leicestershire and Teesside in 1874, Wiltshire and Huntingdonshire in 1875, Bedfordshire and Lincolnshire in 1876, Buckinghamshire in 1877, Nottinghamshire in 1878, Cumberland in 1880, Essex in 1882, Sheffield in 1884, Suffolk in 1885, Sunderland in 1886, Leeds in 1888, Hull and York in 1890, Oxfordshire in 1891 and the Isle of Wight in 1894.

A branch was opened in Edinburgh in 1862, but closed in 1874. It reopened in 1894 and after that other branches began to open in Scotland. The first Welsh branch was opened in Newport in 1866, followed by Cardiff in 1874. The first branch in Ireland was Belfast, opened in 1902; this was followed by others, but the society never expanded beyond the North of Ireland.

There are a number of series of records containing genealogical information about members of the Operative Bricklayers' Society.

Full lists of members

The Yearly Returns of Members' Payments (MSS.78/OB/2/1/1-89) contain full lists of members by branch from 1871 to 1920. The first volume contains three years (1871-1873) and the second two years (1874-1875), but thereafter there is one volume per year until 1890. From 1891 to 1899, there are two volumes per year, from 1900 to 1910 there are three volumes per year, and from 1911 to 1920 there are two volumes per year once more. Until 1895, the London branches are listed first, followed by other branches in roughly alphabetical order; from 1895, all branches are listed roughly alphabetically. Information included is name, age, date admitted to the union and quarterly payments.