IRC

ROCHDALE - DECEMBER 21, 1844

by Gabriel Kirkpatrick, CUNA Archivist

The English cooperative movement had its origins in the social reforms of Robert Owen, manager of the New Lanark Mills which were owned by his father-in-law, David Dale, a Quaker. By the opening of the nineteenth century, the industrial revolution had made England the leading industrial nation in the world, but it had also created social ills of such proportion that reformers and philanthropists were calling for government regulation of working conditions, child labor, working hours, wages, and the promotion of public health and public education.

Robert Owen led the way for many of these reforms. He insisted on adequate housing for his employees, good wages, adequate ventilation, limitation of child labor, and the creation of cooperative stores, owned and operated by the workers. The Owenite principles of cooperation were slowly adopted by other groups throughout the country, mostly in small factories. Prominent among these groups, and perhaps the most successful, were the Rochdale Pioneers. Under the leadership of Charles Howarth, they determined to take charge of their own lives, of their own workplace, and of their place in the economic structure.

The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers was a group of 28 weavers who accumulated enough capital among themselves to open a cooperative store in Toad Lane on December 21, 1844. The shop opened with a stock of "flour, oatmeal, sugar, butter, and candles".

Registered under the Friendly Societies Act on October 24, 1844, the Society pledged to raise capital among its members to establish a cooperative store, to provide housing for members, to manufacture material in order to provide employment for members, to acquire land for cultivation and food production, and eventually to provide education, and finally, to open a Temperance hotel in one of the members' houses.

Capital for the support of the enterprise came from members. Each member had one vote. Of the profits, 2.5% was to be put aside for education. No acceptance of government or charitable assistance was permitted. Dividends would be paid on purchases. The members volunteered time to run the store. The experiment thrived, and within a few years was a self-supporting project.

The principles on which the Rochdale Society operated are the basis for the principles on which credit unions operate: One member, one vote, open membership, member education, low interest loans, payment of dividends in proporation to savings, as well as the practice of voluntary service. The Rochdale Pioneers left a legacy that was ultimately adopted by other cooperative societies, and that is now deeply rooted in the credit union movement.

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