Rochdale Pioneers

The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers, founded in 1844, was an early consumer co-operative, and the first to pay a patronage dividend, forming the basis for the modern co-operative movement. [John K. Walton [http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t110.e1117 "Co-operative movement"] The Oxford Companion to British History. Ed. John Cannon. Oxford University Press, 1997. Oxford Reference Online. Retrieved via county library service on 25 June 2008. ] Although other cooperatives preceded them [Sidney & Beatrice Webb, "The Consumers' Co-operative Movement", 1930, p. 5] , the Rochdale Pioneers' co-operative became the prototype for societies in Great Britain. The Rochdale Pioneers are most famous for designing the Rochdale Principles, a set of principles of co-operation that provide the foundation for the principles on which co-ops around the world operate to this day. The model the Rochdale Pioneers used is a focus of study within Co-operative economics.

History

The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers was a group of 28 weavers and other artisans in Rochdale, England, that was formed in 1844. As the mechanization of the Industrial Revolution was forcing more and more skilled workers into poverty, these tradesmen decided to band together to open their own store selling food items they could not otherwise afford. With lessons from prior failed attempts at co-operation in mind, they designed the now famous Rochdale Principles, and over a period of four months they struggled to pool together one pound sterling per person for a total of 28 pounds of capital. On 21 December 1844, they opened their store with a very meager selection of butter, sugar, flour, oatmeal and a few candles. Within three months, they expanded their selection to include tea and tobacco, and they were soon known for providing high quality, unadulterated goods. Ten years later, the British co-operative movement had grown to nearly 1,000 co-operatives.

The Pioneers' original store on Toad Lane was sold in 1867 and but it was later re-purchased by the movement, and opened as a museum in 1931. [ [http://museum.co-op.ac.uk Rochdale Pioneers Museum ] ] Cite news
url=http://www.cooperativegrocer.coop/articles/index.php?id=158
title=Cooperative Principles Then and Now
author=David Thompson
date=July–Aug 1994
accessdate=2008-06-25
publisher="Co-operative Grocer", National Cooperative Grocers Association, Minneapolis] The museum resurrected the legal name Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society in 1989, the name having been abandoned by the original co-operative in 1976 on merger with the Oldham Co-operative. [Cite web
url=http://mutuals.fsa.gov.uk/SocietyDetails.aspx?Number=26798&Suffix=R
title=Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society Limited, number 26798R
accessdate=2008-06-25
publisher=FSA Mutuals Public Register]

The Archive for the Co-operative movement in Rochdale is held by Local Studies, Rochdale Boroughwide Cultural Trust. [ [http://link4life.org/localstudies Link4Life | Local Studies | Provider of arts, sport and heritage development work in the Rochdale area ] ]

Rochdale Pioneers traded independently until 1991, with name changes inspired by mergers with neighbouring co-operatives, as Pioneers from 1976, and Norwest Pioneers from 1982, based in Wythenshawe, Manchester by 1991. In 1991, then Norwest Co-operative Society transferred its engagements to United Co-operatives, that was run from Rochdale when it in turn transferred to the Manchester-based national hybrid society, The Co-operative Group, in 2007 [Cite web
url=http://www2.co-operative.com:8080/Ext_1/ShHistory.ns4/$WebSharebook/Rochdale%20Pioneers?OpenDocument
title=Share book search: Rochdale Pioneers
publisher=Co-operatives UK
accessdate=2008-06-25] [Cite web
url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=127-m473&cid=0
quote=In 1970 the Manchester and Salford Society merged with the Stockport and Pennine Societies to form the Norwest Regional Society. In 1982 the Norwest merged with the Pioneers Society to form the Norwest Pioneers Co-operative Society.
accessdate=2008-06-25
publisher=The National Archives
title=Records of the Manchester and Salford Equitable Co-operative Society: Administrative history] [Cite web
url=http://www2.co-operative.com:8080/Ext_1/ShHistory.ns4/$WebSharebook/Rochdale%20Pioneers?OpenDocument
title=Share Book Search: Rochdale Pioneers
accessdate=2008-06-24
publisher=Co-operatives UK] [Cite web
url=http://mutuals.fsa.gov.uk/SocietyDetails.aspx?Number=73&Suffix=R
title=Norwest Co-operative Society Limited, number 73R
accessdate=2008-06-25
publisher=FSA Mutuals Public Register] [Cite web
url=http://mutuals.fsa.gov.uk/SocietyDetails.aspx?Number=11253&Suffix=R
title=United Co-operatives Limited, number 11253R
accessdate=2008-06-25
publisher=FSA Mutuals Public Register]

References

External links

* Cite news
url=http://www.cooperativegrocer.coop/articles/index.php?id=158
title=Cooperative Principles Then and Now
author=David Thompson
date=July–Aug 1994
work=#53
publisher="Co-operative Grocer" Article for lay audience, tracing the early history of the Rochdale Pioneers and the Rochdale Principles. Includes the objects of the society.
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/brunel/A2764424 Rochdale Pioneers at BBC h2g2 community encyclopaedia]
* [http://museum.co-op.ac.uk/ Rochdale Pioneers Museum]
* [http://www.bartleby.com/65/ro/RochdlScy.html Columbia Encyclopedia: Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers]
* [http://archive.co-op.ac.uk/pioneers.htm The Co-operative College: Rochdale Pioneers]
* [http://www.link4life.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=c.showPage&pageID=323 Link4Life Touchstones Rochdale: Rochdale Pioneers]