William Dronfield

Who was William Dronfield?

William Dronfield was a British trade unionist.

Born in Sheffield, Dronfield became a compositor. In 1849, he was a founder member of the Provincial Typographical Association, and from 1852 to 1855 served as its President.

In 1858, many Sheffield compositors were involved in a dispute with the owner of the Sheffield Times newspaper. In order to build solidarity for their cause, they founded the Sheffield Association of Organised Trades. Dronfield was elected as its first secretary, a post he held until 1867.

Through this organisation, Dronfield became active in many national campaigns; in particular, against the Master and Servant Act, against which he helped organise a national conference in 1864.

In 1865, Dronfield presented a paper on trade unions at the conference of the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science, a bourgeois organisation which aimed to include industrial relations in its remit. However, details of his speech and the debate sparked by it were omitted from the official report. A second intervention, calling for state aid for education, was included.

Disappointment at the body's indifference to labour matters convinced him of the need for a national trade union organisation. He called a conference in Sheffield in 1866 which organised the United Kingdom Alliance of Organised Trades, and he was elected as its secretary.