Peter Shorrocks

Peter Shorrocks (8 April 1834 – 9 January 1886) was an early British trade union leader.

Born in Manchester, Shorrocks attended the Oldham Blue Coat School before following his father into the tailoring trade. Influenced by Chartism in his youth, Shorrocks was always involved in trade union activity, and in 1860 he joined the recently founded Manchester Society of Journeymen Tailors. The society suffered from low membership and a lack of funds; Shorrocks was elected as its secretary in 1863, and attempted to increase its activity.

In 1865, the Manchester Society tried to negotiate an agreed price list with employers, but faced hostility and was unable to reach agreement. Shorrocks organised a strike which quickly achieved most of the union's aims. Enthused by this, he called a national conference of local tailors' societies, held in Manchester in March 1866. The conference attracted a large number of delegates from around the UK, and the large majority formed the Amalgamated Society of Journeymen Tailors (ASJT), with Shorrocks as General Secretary. Shorrocks also negotiated an agreement to work in co-ordination with the rival London Operative Tailors' Association. He led the ASJT through a lock-out in Manchester in 1868, during which he was charged with conspiracy under the Combination of Workmen Act 1859, but was found not guilty.