Although there was a weavers' union in Nelson by 1860, this appears to have dissolved, and was replaced by the Nelson and District Power-Loom Weavers' Association in 1870. This was initially a branch of the North East Lancashire Amalgamated Weavers' Association, but it soon adopted an independent existence, affiliating to the Amalgamated Weavers' Association (AWA) on its formation in 1884, and leaving the first amalgamation in 1892.
