The union was founded in 1809 in
Bolton as the '''Friendly Iron Moulders' Society
. Unlike the many friendly societies which focused on mutual welfare, it organised workers with the aim of improving their working conditions. This was illegal under the Combination Act 1799, and so in the early years, the books of the organisation were buried in a nearby peat bog between meetings, in order to evade detection. By 1837, it felt able to meet publicly, and held its first delegate meeting. This meeting, in Manchester, decided to rename the union as the Friendly Society of Operative Iron Moulders of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland'''. In 1864, the union took its final name, In 1899, the union was a founder of the
General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU), with secretary Joseph Maddison becoming the GFTU's treasurer. The union also affiliated to the
Labour Representation Committee, and its member
Arthur Henderson became one of the first Labour Members of Parliament. However, in 1901 it was expelled from the
Trades Union Congress following a dispute with the Brass Moulders. In 1905, the union relocated back to Manchester, to a purpose-built headquarters on Chorlton Road. The union's entire executive was dismissed in 1912 for agreeing to pay itself expenses at 12s 6d per day, when the rules stated it was only due 7s. This led to a lengthy dispute during which former assistant general secretary Jeremiah Olive ran the union until fresh elections were held in 1914 and won by a new face, Alfred Todd. Todd took the union into a merger in 1920, joining with the
Amalgamated Society of Coremakers of Great Britain and Ireland and the
Associated Iron Moulders of Scotland to form the
National Union of Foundry Workers. ==Election results==