In the chapter in his autobiography on Trades Unions—the Social Science Association 1852-1871, Ludlow makes the following statement about the ‘Junta’ which may be of some interest to nineteenth-century historians. ‘I may here mention that having been in full contact with trade unionism at the time referred to, I should set down Mr and Mrs Potter's [i.e. Mr and Mrs Sidney Webb's] account of the “Junta” as largely mythical. There is no doubt on the one hand that Newton, as the ablest trade union leader of the day, exercised very great personal influence; nor yet that his firm friendship with W. Allan, and the position of the latter as secretary to the wealthiest trade union of the country, gave the two together on most questions a preponderating position in the trade union world; nor again that the Amalgamated Carpenters and Joiners and the iron founders generally followed the lead of the engineers. But I never heard of Coulson of the Bricklayers’, whom I think I only saw once, spoken of as exercising any particular influence; with George Odger I believe there was frequent friction on the part of the men I have mentioned. And above all I am quite certain that the great unions of Lancashire, Yorkshire, Durham, Northumberland would always have laughed at the idea of accepting the authority of a London “Junta”.