The Manchester and Salford Women’s Trades Union Council was established in 1895 to organise women into trade unions, and lasted until 1919. The Council employed organisers such as Sarah Dickenson, Eva Gore Booth and Mary Quaile who worked tirelessly to encourage women in poorly paid occupations – upholsteresses, tailoresses, box makers etc - to form trade unions. The original hand-written Minutes of the Council came to light during the research into the life of Mary Quaile for the pamphlet Dare To Be Free, published by the Mary Quaile Club in 2015. Mary worked as the Organising Secretary for the Council from 1911 to 1919, and took the Minutes with her when the Council merged with the men’s Trades Council to form a single body in April 1919. The Minutes have been transcribed in full and are a unique item of national significance. They will be a major contribution to our knowledge of women workers and trade unionism in the late C19th and early C20th.