Page:Engines and men- the history of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen. A survey of organisation of railways and railway locomotive men (IA enginesmenhistor00rayniala).pdf/85

 The Society’s registered number was 348. At the meeting on August 8th it was resolved to write the, who had interested himself in the passage of the Employees' Liability Act, as to the restriction of the speed of trains. A circular was prepared for the enginemen and firemen of the whole country, 5.000 copies being ordered, and it was decided to abandon the idea of starting a new paper: "providing the one due to come out will advocate the interests of the Society." The secretary was deputed to visit branches, and Messrs, Perry and Ingram to visit the general meeting at Bristol with a view to opening a new branch. "We must wait a year," Perry had written in February of 1880, and the facts proved him right. At the close of 1881, after two years hard work and great daring, the Associated Society contained 68]. members. Its total receipts had been £1,371 19s., and at the beginning of the year it had in hand from the pioneer members joining in 1880 a sum of £551 8s. 93d. The total expenditure had been £436 19s. 44d., leaving in hand a sum of £1,496 8s. 5d. Readers will notice how big the funds were compared to the membership, roughly 45s. per head. It was explainable by the big membership fees paid, some paying £2 and even £3 on joining. They meant having a fund for drivers and firemen, and they sacrificed to get it.

I turn to the beautifully-written first general register of the Society, to find how William Ullyott was the first to join up at Sheffield on February 7th, 1880, and how fifty-five other drivers and firemen did the same, following his lead the same night. At Pontypool a week later, February 15th, 1880, Charles H. Perry led the way, supported the same night by fifty-six others. Tondu enrolled a dozen on April 4th, £880, and Liverpool came along with a big consignment of thirty on May 23rd. The next night, May 24th, Leeds took up the strain, and we get a dozen entrants for the new Society. Neath added half-a-dozen on May 30th, and 38 more on Junenb13th, including Mr. Henry Parfitt (membership No. 229). There follow additions from Leeds, Liverpool, Neath, Pontypool, and then on June 28th Bradford weighs in with sixteen or more, Carnforth forwards a batch of entrants for July 4th,