Archibald T. Kidd

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Archibald Thomas Kidd (15 April 1873 – 15 June 1972) was a long-serving British trade union leader. Born in Liverpool, he trained as a sheet metal worker with Bennett Brothers and Butler & Forester's, and he took night classes to improve his education. He studied at the Liverpool School of Technology, earning first-class honours and the Bronze Medal from the City and Guilds, and he also studied at the University of Liverpool, Ruskin College and the American School of Correspondence.

In 1893 Kidd joined the Liverpool Society of Tin Plate Workers and was elected to its committee a year later. The society joined the General Union of Braziers and Sheet Metal Workers, and he became assistant secretary in 1906 and general secretary in 1913.

In 1920 he helped merge unions to form the National Union of Sheet Metal Workers and Braziers, serving as secretary of the number 2 district. He became assistant general secretary in 1923 and sat on the Executive Committee of the Federation of Engineering and Shipbuilding Trades (FEST). When FEST proved ineffective, he helped transform it into the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions. He also served on the executive of the National Council of Labour Colleges and taught social history to workers.

Kidd was active in the Labour Party and a leading figure in Clapham. He became the union's general secretary in 1941 and retired in 1943. In retirement, he wrote The History of the Tin Plate Workers, Sheet Metal Workers and Braziers Societies. He died aged 99.