|
|
A REPUTATION FOR EXCELLENCE
A History of the Aberdeen and Northern Counties Printing
Industry
1 2
3
4
5 6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
161718192021
2223242526272829303132
After Arthur King’s death in
1870 the company was managed by his son for a short time before
being sold in 1872 to John Thomson and two partners. Thomson had
been apprenticed to one William Bennett who had started in business
at 48 Queen Street in 1840 but later moved to 45 Castle Street,
subsequently the location of George Cornwall & Son. After completing
his apprentice-ship Thomson joined The Aberdeen Journal where he
was to become second foreman before the acquisition of Arthur King
& Co.
Thomson soon established himself as the main driving force in the
company and by 1887 became the sole owner. By that time the staff
had been increased considerably and the firm was undertaking the
bulk of Aberdeen University’s printing requirements as well
as successfully seeking orders from a number of London publishers.
Thomson had antagonised the print unions by introducing female compositors
and employing an excessive number of apprentices. This coincided
with the introduction of machine composition to the industry in
1890, resulting in the loss of employment for hand compositors nationally.
During that year a Thorne composing machine was the first to reach
Aberdeen and five years later eight Linotype machines were installed,
displacing sixteen to twenty men. This depressing picture was partially
offset when it became apparent that, as a result of the introduction
of mechanical composition, there was an increase in the numbers
employed in pressrooms.
In some areas, notably Edinburgh and Aberdeen, efforts were made
to have composing machines manned only by female labour. In fact
women com-positors went on to secure a near monopoly of the Monotype
machine, their wages being less than half the recognised rate for
men. Prolonged negotiations at both national and local levels to
resolve the problem were unsuccessful. In 1906, however, the Edinburgh
and Aberdeen union branches began negotiations on their own and
in the following year Aberdeen successfully concluded an agreement
under which there was to be no further entry of women to skilled
jobs. This was only achieved after a strike of fifteen weeks and
the loss of one office. However, women were taken on again for a
time to replace male compositors during the First World War.
|
|
Volume 3 published 1996
Buy a
copy of the illustrated book?
Download a PDF (8MB)
|
