City of Bradford Clo/Operative Society Limited Jub Lee H Story
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C ity of Bradf ord Clo / operative Society Limited JUB LEE ‘ H STORY 8 6 0— 1 9 0 C ompiled by JOSEPH B E NNETT ( S ecretary) and J O HN BALDW IN ( Di rector) BRADFORD F r w r o e o d . The following pages have been compiled under the instruction of the Jubilee Commi ttee of the City of — Bradford C o operative Society after a perusal of t he ffi n h o cial records , containing early one hundred t ousand s w s minute , together ith very many new paper reports of the various public incidents referred to during the fi s i t s fty year of exi stence . s i h s The tory w ll be found rat er di j ointed , owing to the difficulty of following three sets of records for r a great po tion of the time covered , seeing the present society is the result of two separate amalgamations . ffi l The di cu ty has not been want of material , but rather its curtailment . C ontents. E ARLY BEGINNINGS TH E QU E E NS GATE SOCIETY B IOGRAPHI CAL E ARL Y PR OGR E S S METH ODS E AR L Y SUCCESSES A MEMORABLE Y EAR B OW L ING OLD L ANE SOCIETY CONGRATULATION AMAL GAMA TION PROPOSED INTERNAL CHANGES SHORTAGE OF CAPITAL A MEMORABLE PERIOD STEADY GROW TH MONEY BRINGS TROUBLE C O - OPER ATIVE PRODUCTION ’ THE SOC IE TY S MAJORITY TW ENTY- FIFTH Y EAR MODERN TIMES L ABOUR PROBLEMS NE w OFFICIAL S OVERLAPPING ANOTHER AMAL GAM ATION JUBILEE CELEBRATION L IST OF OFFICIA LS FROM 1 8 6 0 TO L IST OF COMMITTEEME N STATISTICS Illustrations . PA G E CE T A PRE MIS S S U NB R IDGE R AD Fr on ti s i ece N R L E , O p ’ W ILLIAM JE NNINc s S COTTAGE THE R OE BUCK INN ’ R OBERT BARKER S TICKET OF MEMBERSHIP TH FI ST SH P MA CH ST R AD E R O , N E ER O THE SE AL OF THE SOCIETY H W MR . JOHN O ARTH W MR . E D ARD SCHOFIELD C T A P MI S S B ID ST T EN R L RE E , R GE REE OFFIC S A D C MMITT 1 8 6 ER N O EE , 9 O D C T A P MIS S IN B ID ST T W ITH L EN R L RE E R GE REE , GROCERY W ARE HOUSE BEHIND 5 7 PAST PR ESIDENTS 6 3 DIR E CT S 1 8 1 0 1 0 OR 7 , 7 7 , 5 , 9 3 , 3 , 9 DE PAR TME TA MA A S 1 1 1 2 N L N GER 9 , 7 AUDITORS AND SOLICITOR ’ BRADFORD W OME N S GUILD COO PERATIV E H OUSES BRANCH STORES E DUCATION COMMITTEE ’ W EST BOW LING W OMEN S GUIL D W EST B OW LING CENTR AL PREMISES DRAPERY DEPARTMENT Early Begi n n i n gs C HAPTER I . C O - Op e rati on advo cat e d by t h e S o c i al S ci en ce C on gres s an d b L ou s an c t h e Fr en c S oc a R ef orm er —Th e y i Bl , h i l wor k er s of B r adf ord dec ide t o m ake t h e att em pt A S o c et y S art e —Th e s om m t i t d Fir t C it ee . H E N an artist , in painting a picture , wishes to bring a certain figu re into prominence he will eff ect hi s obj ect by sketching that figure in bright colours against a sombre background . Similarly , and , no doubt , governed by a like principle , the historian , anxious to Sh ow to the best advantage the particular cause he has at heart,will frequently depict the time immediately preceding that period he intends to bring out in relief as Of s o one dark and gloomy days , that the good which may have resulted from the adoption of the particul ar poli cy he advocates may be the better appreciated and recognised . NO such artistic work will be necessary in this story of the c - r birth and growth of o Ope ation in Bradford . Although it i s true that hard times had been “f ar experienced , for the Crimean had left its mark on the r i t s count y , and t—he years immediately following close 1 8 5 7 to I 8 sg were occupied in various attempts to t Historical S ouvenir a} a improve the lot of the workers , on whom generally the heavy burden of war falls most severely , yet at the moment of the Opening of our story matters were not quite so bad as they had been and the future outlook was more promising . Certain schemes were publicly advocated with a view to the amelioration of the condition of the working classes . The Social Science Congress which met in Glasgow had discussed the problem and had decided in favour of co - Operation as the most hopeful of all the proposed means whereby the condition of the working class might be raised , as it had within it a tendency to induce them to save and so prepare for such evil times as Of had been experienced . The signs new life and activity were apparent on every Side , as a result of the many suggestive articles in the press , magazines , and periodicals of the day . men in B radford , as elsewhere , were awakening to a clearer sense of their own powers and M importance . Louis Blanc , the French reformer , had fanned the flame by an eloquent address in the Temperance ” C o—O Hall on peration , in which he related to a crowded audience , chiefly composed of the working class , the steps taken by the workers of France to realise among them Of co - O selves the principles peration , which he described as one of the most practical and permanent results Of the 1 8 8 French Revolution of 4 . It is no wonder , then , that the seed began to take root in Bradford , or rather that the question of ways and means for accomplishing such good results began to be discussed in many of the large work f shops and warehouses O the town . The idea of co - C operation therefore was not born in B radford , it ame as something that had already succeeded elsewhere , and ' meet n s w ere e d . J enn ings s C ottage where the first i g h l "S ee page 5 Historic al S ouve n ir J , J s et w as the problem Bradford how , and where to begin , and like many other problems the solution was found in several directions . There is strong evidence that several attempts had been made to establish societies , but beyond ref erences to such as failures and as warnings against it y to those likel to be led in that direction , nothing of a y fi NO reall de nite nature can be gathered at this date . earlv trace of these societies can be found , but the o f remembrance them , according to Mr . P . T . Macaulay , was such as to strongl y prej udice those who had had an y connection with them against an y other attempt in a similar direction . These fears , however , were gradually f or being removed , at the time of the Social Science Congress in Glasgow it was stated that there were close 1 6 0 y O on societies alread formed and in active peration , and that they possessed among them capital amounting to over a million pounds sterling . \Vhi le these earlier attempts at co - Operation in B radford were failures and their shadowy history h as been Of ffi lost in the dim uncertainty the past , no great di culty has been experienced in tracing the history Of the present Docum en t arv society . and other evidence can be produced to Show that C O - Operation in this district took its rise high up on the hills at Queensbury , then like a S lowlv stream it trickled down to Great Horton . Some time afterwards it sprang up in two distinct places in Bradford . Almost simultaneously , at any rate within a on e few weeks of another , there became established the " Bradford Ind ustrial Society and also the Bradford i s Provident Society . It interesting to notice how this u i s came abo t , because it evident that both sprang from the ” " A 3 E arly B egi n ni ngs rc d scou e . same Two individuals hailing from Har en , near Bingley , where a society was already established , came to work in Bradford . They were respectively Tom Bower ot and J ohn Howarth . After a time the former g a situation at Queensbury , where he came in direct contact with the active workers of the successful society which had been established there . What could be more natural than for hi s Tom Bower to convey to J ohn Howarth , companion and hi s from Harden , also to more immediate friends , the information thus derived ? It was on the 2 2n d of 6 ’ 1 8 0 .