The London Typographical Society was formed in March 1955 by the amalgamation of the Printing Machine Managers' Trade Society and the London Society of Compositors. It only existed for eight years before amalgamating with the Typographical Association in 1963 to form the National Graphical Association (NGA).

The union's trade reports (MSS.28/CO/4/1/76-80), which only go up to 1959, are the only union-wide source for membership information.

Deceased members

Deaths of members and their wives are listed annually, with name, union number, age (only listed for wives in 1956), date of joining and last employer. The exact date of death is not listed. Note that deceased members are listed under the year when funeral benefits were paid, which was not necessarily the year in which they died.

Superannuated members

Superannuated (pensioned) members are listed annually. Members who began receiving benefits from their old union (before amalgamation) are also listed. As well as his name, the entry includes union number, age, date of joining, last employer (all compositors, but only machine managers retiring after 1950) and date of superannuation. The members are listed alphabetically by year of retirement.

Emigration and removal

The union also paid its members allowances for emigration and/or removal within the UK, and these are listed annually, with name, union number, date of joining, last employer and port, town or country of destination.

Chapel records

The records of the Evening News Composing Chapel of the London Society of Compositors and successors, including the London Typographical Society, include accounts of income from membersLink opens in a new window in various formats, 1929-1978, in which members are named in alphabetical order.