In 1842 it was a founder member of the Association of Cotton Spinners, Twiners and Self-Actor Minders of the United Kingdom.
In 1886 it became the Association of Operative Cotton Spinners of Preston and its Vicinity, at which time it had 760 members, a figure which remained steady for many years.
In 1920, the Farrington Operative Spinners' Association also affiliated, and the union for the first time admitted piecers, taking overall membership to a peak of 1,464.
The Brierfield Operative Cotton Spinners' Association was established in 1942 as a new affiliate, but overall membership continued to fall, dropping to 427 by 1951, 112 in 1964, and just 69 in 1969.
That year, the province was dissolved, with the few remaining members being accepted into the Bolton and District Operative Cotton Spinners' Provincial Association.