 It was originally named the Amalgamated Society of Operative Lace Makers, and it saw itself as a revival of the Lacemakers' Union, a short-lived society which had affiliated to the National Association for the Protection of Labour in 1831.Most of the union's members were in Nottingham and, in the 1890s, it was the largest member of the Nottingham and District Lace Trade Unions Federation.In 1896, the union's general secretary was sacked after he was involved in fraud.