The Decline of Tramping in Two Trade Unions, 1840-1914
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+Andrew Whitehead+ 1978 M.A. Dissertation
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In 1978, I undertook an M.A. dissertation about the phenomenon of 'tramping artisans', skilled workmen who in times of unemployment took to the road in search of work and were financially supported by their trade union in doing so. I am posting my dissertation below.
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One offshoot of my research on tramping artisans was the publication by Caliban in 1982 of J.W. Rounsfell's On the Road: journeys of a tramping printer. This was a serialised first-hand (though fictionalised) account of life 'on the road' which I came across in the journal of the main printers' trade union, the Typographical Association.

​I both edited the serialised version and provided an introduction and an afterword. Rounsfell wrote initially under the pseudonym of 'The Pilgrim' and it was quite an exercise to track down the identity of the author.

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Tags: tramping, tramping artisans, trade union tramp relief, trade tramps, J.W. Rounsfell, On the Road., tramping printer, cabinet makers, typographers, printers, Typographical Association, Provincial Typographical Association, London Society of Compositors, Alliance Cabinet Makers, Amalgamated Union of Cabinet Maker, labour history, trade union history, tramping allowance, travelling allowance. emigration allowance, out of work allowance
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