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| When Manchester and Salford lit the Co-op flame | When Manchester and Salford lit the Co-op flame |
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| The co-operative movement was brought into being by the writings and lectures of Robert Owen, whose ideas on mutuality and co-operation were very influential on the working class movement in the first half of the C19th | The co-operative movement was brought into being by the writings and lectures of Robert Owen, whose ideas on mutuality and co-operation were very influential on the working class movement in the first half of the C19th |
| Owen was born in Newtown in mid-Wales in 1771. He had little schooling, but came to Manchester where he worked in a drapers in St Ann's Square. Like many other young ambitious men, he went into the expanding cotton trade and progressed to running his own mills, the Oxford Road Twist Company. | Owen was born in Newtown in mid-Wales in 1771. He had little schooling, but came to Manchester where he worked in a drapers in St Ann's Square. Like many other young ambitious men, he went into the expanding cotton trade and progressed to running his own mills, the Oxford Road Twist Company. |
| In 1799 Robert took a step which changed his life when he bought the New Lanark Mills and moved to Scotland to run them. The mills employed 2000 people, including 500 children. He now had an opportunity to put his ideas on social reform into practice, introducing a minimum age of ten for apprentices, improving housing and sanitation and opening a shop whose profits were used to fund a free village school. | In 1799 Robert took a step which changed his life when he bought the New Lanark Mills and moved to Scotland to run them. The mills employed 2000 people, including 500 children. He now had an opportunity to put his ideas on social reform into practice, introducing a minimum age of ten for apprentices, improving housing and sanitation and opening a shop whose profits were used to fund a free village school. |
| He published his ideas on educational and social reform, advocating a society run on harmonious co-operative lines, and undertook lecture tours to publicise them. Here is a ringing example of his credo: | He published his ideas on educational and social reform, advocating a society run on harmonious co-operative lines, and undertook lecture tours to publicise them. Here is a ringing example of his credo: |
| What ideas individuals may attach to the term 'Millennium' I know not; but I know that society may be formed so as to exist without crime, without poverty, with health greatly improved, with little, if any misery, and with intelligence and happiness increased a hundredfold; and no obstacle whatsoever intervenes at this moment except ignorance to prevent such a state of society from becoming universal. | What ideas individuals may attach to the term 'Millennium' I know not; but I know that society may be formed so as to exist without crime, without poverty, with health greatly improved, with little, if any misery, and with intelligence and happiness increased a hundredfold; and no obstacle whatsoever intervenes at this moment except ignorance to prevent such a state of society from becoming universal. |
| Many listened but not all. Disillusioned by the lack of response from his fellow manufacturers, Owen left England for the United States, where he tried to establish a co-operative community in New Harmony, Indiana. Initially settlers flocked to join but, as often happens in such communities, divisions soon arose and in the summer of 1828 he returned to England | Many listened but not all. Disillusioned by the lack of response from his fellow manufacturers, Owen left England for the United States, where he tried to establish a co-operative community in New Harmony, Indiana. Initially settlers flocked to join but, as often happens in such communities, divisions soon arose and in the summer of 1828 he returned to England |
| During his absence his ideas on co-operation had taken hold amongst some groups of radicals with a number of co-operative societies being formed in Manchester and elsewhere. The first co-operative Congress took place on 26-27 May 1831 in the Spread Eagle pub on Chapel Street, Salford. It was reported at length in the Manchester Guardian. | During his absence his ideas on co-operation had taken hold amongst some groups of radicals with a number of co-operative societies being formed in Manchester and elsewhere. The first co-operative Congress took place on 26-27 May 1831 in the Spread Eagle pub on Chapel Street, Salford. It was reported at length in the Manchester Guardian. |
| At half-past eleven o'clock, a meeting of the delegates and others was held for the transaction of business. Mr Elijah Dixon was in the chair. Fifty-six societies were represented by forty-six delegates and ten others sent letters. The principal object of deliberation was the formation of a general union of all the co-operative societies in the north of England, for the purpose of establishing a general store in Liverpool, and appointing an agent and secretary there to superintend the business of the union. From this store goods are proposed to be furnished at very moderate prices to all the co-operative societies in the union, the surplus profits to be appropriated to the foundation of a harmonious community on the plan of Robert Owen, or to such purposes as the delegates may deem proper. | At half-past eleven o'clock, a meeting of the delegates and others was held for the transaction of business. Mr Elijah Dixon was in the chair. Fifty-six societies were represented by forty-six delegates and ten others sent letters. The principal object of deliberation was the formation of a general union of all the co-operative societies in the north of England, for the purpose of establishing a general store in Liverpool, and appointing an agent and secretary there to superintend the business of the union. From this store goods are proposed to be furnished at very moderate prices to all the co-operative societies in the union, the surplus profits to be appropriated to the foundation of a harmonious community on the plan of Robert Owen, or to such purposes as the delegates may deem proper. |
| About half-past four o'clock, a great many members and delegates assembled together, in what they termed " a co-operative tea-party", at the Town Hall, Salford, which was tastefully decorated on this occasion with festoon of flowers. About half-past five o'clock Mr Robert Owen, of New Lanark celebrity, entered the room and was, of course, received with great applause. | About half-past four o'clock, a great many members and delegates assembled together, in what they termed " a co-operative tea-party", at the Town Hall, Salford, which was tastefully decorated on this occasion with festoon of flowers. About half-past five o'clock Mr Robert Owen, of New Lanark celebrity, entered the room and was, of course, received with great applause. |
| At length Mr Owen, attended by a number of friends, ascended into the orchestra, and from thence addressed the company in a long speech in which he professed to explain what co-operation meant. He concluded by intimating that his system would eventually bring about the millennium, that happy period, when every man should sit under his own vine and his own fig tree, and none should make him afraid. | At length Mr Owen, attended by a number of friends, ascended into the orchestra, and from thence addressed the company in a long speech in which he professed to explain what co-operation meant. He concluded by intimating that his system would eventually bring about the millennium, that happy period, when every man should sit under his own vine and his own fig tree, and none should make him afraid. |
| In 1835 Salford co-operators opened a Social Institution on Great George Street which could hold up to 600 people. Robert Cooper, one of the teachers at the co-operative school, wrote that the windows | In 1835 Salford co-operators opened a Social Institution on Great George Street which could hold up to 600 people. Robert Cooper, one of the teachers at the co-operative school, wrote that the windows |
| were of stained class, the floors carpeted and the platform neat and elegant, ornamented with mottos in gilt mouldings. Altogether it bore an aspect of comfort and respectability, such as I never saw before or since in connection with an almost purely working class movement. | were of stained class, the floors carpeted and the platform neat and elegant, ornamented with mottos in gilt mouldings. Altogether it bore an aspect of comfort and respectability, such as I never saw before or since in connection with an almost purely working class movement. |
| When the movement outgrew the building, the co-operators built the Hall of Science in Campfield, Manchester where there were meetings, lectures and tea-parties. Friedrich Engels was a regular visitor during his time in Manchester in the mid-1840s. The hall only survived to 1844 when it closed and was sold but in 1852 the Manchester Free Library was established in the building. | When the movement outgrew the building, the co-operators built the Hall of Science in Campfield, Manchester where there were meetings, lectures and tea-parties. Friedrich Engels was a regular visitor during his time in Manchester in the mid-1840s. The hall only survived to 1844 when it closed and was sold but in 1852 the Manchester Free Library was established in the building. |
| The modern co-operative movement usually traces its origins back to the Rochdale Pioneers, who opened a shop in Toad Lane, Rochdale on 21 December 1844. The building is now a museum. The rules developed and codified in Rochdale guided the spread and development of the movement. They included a commitment to providing pure, unadulterated food, an insistence on cash payment for goods; dividends for members and democratic control. They also put aside two and a half per cent for educational purposes. Every member was given a unique number and the dividend was paid quarterly (the "divi" as it became known was abolished in 1974 but was re-introduced in 2006 in the form of a card). | The modern co-operative movement usually traces its origins back to the Rochdale Pioneers, who opened a shop in Toad Lane, Rochdale on 21 December 1844. The building is now a museum. The rules developed and codified in Rochdale guided the spread and development of the movement. They included a commitment to providing pure, unadulterated food, an insistence on cash payment for goods; dividends for members and democratic control. They also put aside two and a half per cent for educational purposes. Every member was given a unique number and the dividend was paid quarterly (the "divi" as it became known was abolished in 1974 but was re-introduced in 2006 in the form of a card). |
| This more managed business model was successful and spread across the world. Some mourned the end of the radical years of the movement, though. Cooper wrote wistfully: | This more managed business model was successful and spread across the world. Some mourned the end of the radical years of the movement, though. Cooper wrote wistfully: |
| In our old Chartist time, it is true, Lancashire working men were in rags by the thousand; and many of them lacked food. But their intelligence was demonstrated wherever you went. You could see them in groups discussing the great doctrine of political justice – that every grown up, sane man ought to have a vote in the election of the men who were to make the laws by which he was to be governed; or they were in earnest dispute respecting the teachings of socialism. Now you will see no such groups in Lancashire. But you will hear well-dressed men talking, as they walk with their hands in their pockets of 'Co-ops' and their shares in them, or in building societies. | In our old Chartist time, it is true, Lancashire working men were in rags by the thousand; and many of them lacked food. But their intelligence was demonstrated wherever you went. You could see them in groups discussing the great doctrine of political justice – that every grown up, sane man ought to have a vote in the election of the men who were to make the laws by which he was to be governed; or they were in earnest dispute respecting the teachings of socialism. Now you will see no such groups in Lancashire. But you will hear well-dressed men talking, as they walk with their hands in their pockets of 'Co-ops' and their shares in them, or in building societies. |
| Michael Herbert is a Trustee of the Working Class Movement Library and leads walks exploring Manchester's radical history for Red Flag walks. | Michael Herbert is a Trustee of the Working Class Movement Library and leads walks exploring Manchester's radical history for Red Flag walks. |
| His book 'Up Then Brave Women: Manchester Radical Women 1819-1919' was published on 15 October and is on sale at the Peoples History Museum, Manchester, Three Minute Theatre, Manchester, the Portico Library, Manchester, and Rochdale Pioneers Museum. | His book 'Up Then Brave Women: Manchester Radical Women 1819-1919' was published on 15 October and is on sale at the Peoples History Museum, Manchester, Three Minute Theatre, Manchester, the Portico Library, Manchester, and Rochdale Pioneers Museum. |
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