Politics for People

This month in 1761, the Fenwick Weavers' Society was born in East Ayrshire. For many Fenwick is the first 'proper' co-operative in the world, beating Rochdale by 80 years. The self-employed weavers of this small town near Kilmarnock bought a sack of oatmeal and started selling it at a discount. A formal agreement was written and signed between the original 15 members, and soon the society was lending money and selling other goods, with a shop opening in 1769. eventually profits were shared among members. There was even a library and the 'Fenwick parliament', a place for villagers to debate issues.

Defenders of Rochdale's pride point out that it is the Rochdale Principles which underpin modern co-operation and spawned a movement. But local historian John Smith states that other societies began to operate near Fenwick, and the principles of Fenwick are similar to Rochdale's. A local merchant who must surely have bought yarn from the Society was David Dale, who went on to set up New Lanark Mills which he sold to his son-in-law, Richard Owen. Smith is convinced that Fenwick deserves its place at the head of the co-operative movement.

Fenwick eventually declined because of mechanisation of weaving but also because of its own success: it set up an emigration society which saw many of its members move to the Americas, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Last weekend, Ayrshire activists led by John Smith and supported by the Co-op and Co-operatives UK were joined by Des Browne MP to launch a new Fenwick Weavers Society. The aim is to build a heritage centre to honour these pioneers, co-operatively owned with the people of Fenwick able to know more about their town's role in forging a global movement of 800 million members.

Labels: co-operativism, Des Browne, Fenwick, history, Scotland