Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn with Islington Trades Council [Picture courtesy of Islington Trades Council]

• THANK you for the CNJ’s coverage of the 2024 London May Day march and rally and George Binette’s review of a new book on trades union council histories, Come Together: Trades Councils 1920-50 by Jethro and Michael Bor, (A labour of love across two generations, Review, May 2).

Camden Trades Council brings together local trade union branches in Camden for campaigning and solidarity work.

I am currently researching our history and would like to contact any CNJ readers who have documents or memories relating to Camden Trades Council or our predecessors, St Pancras & Holborn Trades Councils.

It is likely that the trades council was established some time shortly after 1860 (the year that London Trades Council was established).

My research into our trades council history goes back as far as the 1926 General Strike, but there are many gaps.

Research at Camden Archives Centre and Salford Working Class Movement Library, has uncovered some key materials but unfortunately a lot of trades council history seems not to have been retained or archived.

I am trying to find out what still exists and to piece this together.

Prior to 1965 when it was renamed Camden Trades Council, the trades council may variously have been called Holborn Trades Council/St Pancras and Holborn Trades Council/St Pancras Trades Council.

Many readers may remember Nicola Syed, trades council secretary during the 1990s and 2000’s, (‘Goodbye Nicola Syed’, modest believer in a better world). Nicola was a trades council stalwart, but even records of this fairly recent history have been lost.

So, if any CNJ readers have memories of Camden Trades Council, I would love to hear from them, including copies of any photos, letters, or newsletters relating to its activities.

All material is welcome if it helps to pull together its fascinating history. Readers can email me at the address below.

SARAH FRIDAY
Chair, Camden Trades Union Council
sarah.friday@hotmail.co.uk