Fenwick Weavers Society
The final item of business is a members' business debate on motion S3M-1580, in the name of Willie Coffey, on the Fenwick Weavers Society and the co-operative model. The debate will be concluded without any question being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament notes that the Fenwick Weavers' Society is increasingly being acknowledged as the world's first formally incorporated co-operative society; recognises that having been founded on 14 March 1761 to promote and maintain high standards in the craft of weaving, it also became involved in the bulk purchase of oatmeal for resale to its members and in lending money to needy members and their families, setting examples followed in the development of both the retail co-operative sector and credit unions; notes that the deed of incorporation and the minute book of the society covering the period 1761 to 1783 are in the safe-keeping of the National Library of Scotland; welcomes the decision of the library to make the deed of incorporation and minute book available to the residents of Fenwick who, under the inspired leadership of John Smith and John McFadzean, have re-established the society to develop a heritage centre in Fenwick to value and build on the work of the society, and records its support for the co-operative model of working, which has the potential to make a significant contribution to the economic and social development of Scotland and the wider world.
The year is 1761; Robert Burns is a two-year-old living in Alloway; and, just up the road, the Fenwick Weavers Society, the world's first recorded co-operative, is born.
I am very pleased to open this debate on the Fenwick Weavers Society, its place in the history of the co-operative movement and the movement's continuing importance to Scotland and the wider world. I welcome to the Parliament members and supporters of the society, particularly the two Johns—Smith and McFadzean—who have done a tremendous job in researching and publicising the society's history and working towards establishing a heritage centre in Fenwick. I thank the members who have stayed behind for the debate and the Minister for Enterprise, Energy and Tourism, Jim Mather, for being present to respond. There will be an opportunity to meet over refreshments in committee room 5.
Those who have had the opportunity to speak to members of the society will be aware of the high regard in which they hold the original founders, who were a group of self-employed hand-loom weavers. In the middle of the huge social and economic changes that were taking place in 18th century Scotland, that group decided that their best hope for prosperity lay in working together in a properly constituted society. Those were dangerous times, when a charge of sedition could follow any attempt to organise for one's rights; nevertheless, the society was born on 14 March 1761. The 250th anniversary of that event will take place in 2011, and I hope that members agree that we should mark that milestone in the history of not only Scotland, but the co-operative movement.
In preparing for the debate, I was struck by the lack of a cross-party group in the Scottish Parliament on co-operatives, and I will circulate an invitation to all members in order to gauge support for such a group. I certainly hope that it will find support.
Increasingly, historians of the co-operative movement recognise the Fenwick Weavers Society as the first incorporated co-operative society. It is certainly the oldest society for which there is a physical record of incorporation—the document in question is held in the National Library of Scotland. Members might be interested to note that, in 1968, Andrew Faulds MP presented the society's earliest minute book to the National Library of Scotland. As some members might know, Mr Faulds was the great grandson of another notable Fenwick figure, the centenarian weaver Matthew Fowlds. Through that remarkable suite of documents, knowledge of the society has been kept alive. It now serves as inspiration for a new generation, not just because of its academic interest, but by offering a means of reinvigorating the village and providing a basis for action by local people.
Over the years, the society demonstrated one of the key strengths of the co-operative model—a clear focus on the needs of its members and the local community. In response to those needs, the society moved on from supporting the work of the hand-loom weavers. It opened a shop and made bulk purchases of essential goods, which it resold to members and their families. It also loaned money to members at preferential rates. I was interested to note that, according to one of the account records from 1764, a shilling was loaned to a Margaret Mitchel of Fenwick. If that was an ancestor of Margaret Mitchell MSP, who is in the chamber, I hope that the shilling was paid back. Since then, through the work of retail co-operatives and credit unions, such activities have become key features of co-operative action.
The society appears to have paid a dividend to members when its activities generated a surplus and, in 1808, it opened a subscription library. Although recognition of the Rochdale pioneers has overtaken recognition of the Fenwick Weavers Society in the chronicles of co-operatives, the principles that were set down in Rochdale are well reflected in the much earlier work of the Fenwick society. By building on those principles, the co-operative model has become an important part of the social and economic fabric of Scotland and beyond. For example, the European Union has an estimated 132,000 co-operative enterprises, which have 83 million members and more than 2 million employees.
One of Europe's leading co-operatives, which is based in Mondragón in the Basque Country, was recognised by the United Nations as one of the 50 best social economic innovations in the world. The Mondragón Cooperative Corporation, which is almost 50 years old and has more than 100 companies and tens of thousands of worker owners, is an illustration of co-operation in action. Along with other examples, it shows that the co-operative model has made a tremendous impact on our society. Co-operatives can help Scotland to tackle the social and economic challenges that it faces and to take advantage of the opportunities that lie ahead.
I understand that Ian Hughes, who is the chief executive of Co-operative Development Scotland, and Ivan Broussine, who is chair of its advisory board, are in the public gallery. Research that has been carried out on behalf of CDS estimates the turnover of co-operatives in Scotland to be roughly £4 billion, which amounts to more than 4 per cent of gross domestic product. Although that is significant, there is every expectation that, with the right support from the Parliament, the Scottish Government and Westminster, the co-operative sector can grow in the years ahead.
The Fenwick weavers committed to be
"honest and faithful to one another … and to make good and sufficient work and exact neither higher nor lower prices than are accustomed".
That is a fitting objective, which has underpinned the work of co-operatives down through the years. It would be fitting recognition indeed of the role of Fenwick in the development of the co-operative movement if tonight's debate were to encourage the Parliament to step up its support for the work of that vital sector.
I commend the motion to Parliament and invite members to follow the example of the Fenwick weavers in working to build a wealthier, fairer and more co-operative Scotland in the years ahead.
I declare an interest as a Labour and Co-operative member of the Parliament.
I congratulate Willie Coffey on securing the debate and welcome to the Parliament John Smith and John McFadzean, who have researched a thorough history of the Fenwick Weavers Society and have been the driving force behind the new Fenwick Weavers Co-operative Society. I also recognise the efforts of Jim O'Neill, who is in the gallery. Jim is the former Labour and Co-operative Party councillor for Stewarton and is now the secretary of the Ayrshire Co-operative Party and a member of its Scottish executive.
As Willie Coffey said, the period when the Fenwick Weavers Society was established was an important time for Ayrshire and Scotland. Indeed, it was the era when Robert Burns lived in my now adopted home village of Mauchline. As Willie Coffey pointed out, Burns was in his early years. As we all know, a few years later, he produced some of his most beautiful and memorable work. Nearby, in Stewarton, the period also saw the birth of David Dale who is associated with the Catrine mill—although Catrine is pronounced differently in my part of the world—and New Lanark mill.
As a long-standing co-operator, I always enjoy reminding friends from the south that we were ahead of Rochdale in giving birth to the co-operative ethos. Again, as Willie Coffey mentioned, although many believed that co-operation began in 1844 in Lancashire with the Rochdale equitable pioneers, we can now say, with confidence and some pride, that it began on 14 March 1761 when that group of Fenwick weavers came together to sign their charter.
Shortly after 1761, the society began to purchase in bulk provisions such as oats, flour, fat and potatoes and to distribute them in smaller quantities to its members at the profit-free wholesale price. Shortly afterwards, similar societies began to be set up throughout Scotland—and, indeed, England—to organise the specialist distribution of coal, fish, meat, dairy products, bread and flour. Later societies added shoes and clothes to the items that they distributed. Ultimately, that expansion led to present-day societies meeting diverse modern day needs, for example for fridges and pharmaceutical products.
Nowadays, co-operation involves developments such as the credit union movement, worker co-ops, and even football supporter trusts. Of course, we also have Co-operative Development Scotland, for which the Labour and Co-operative Party group of MSPs in the previous Administration pushed hard. In the current climate of rising food prices, it is worth remembering that the 18th century flour societies thrived when prices soared in the 1790s. Their work was a way of undermining the profiteers who adulterated their products and sold them for the maximum price.
Those of us of a certain age are able to quote our grandparents' or parents' divvy number. As members know, the only shareholders of such dividend-paying societies are the individual members. As I understand the history, the Fenwick weavers did not introduce the concept or practicalities of the dividend, which is defined as a distribution to the members of a society of the surplus, based on how much they have spent in the year. As the Inland Revenue famously defined the dividend in the early part of the 20th century, it was
"a return to members of the money they had overpaid for their own goods".
The concept is interesting. Yet again, it is a Scottish co-op—the Lennoxtown society, in 1812—that lays claim to the dividend. That said, the Fenwick weavers were the first organisation to capture formally the essence of co-operation, the definition of which is a group of like-minded people who come together with the object of helping each other. After a gap of 134 years, it is typical of the values of the co-operative movement that, instead of choosing to remember the Fenwick weavers only as a historical relic, we are celebrating the establishment of the new Fenwick Weavers Co-operative Society.
In the charter that the Fenwick weavers signed in 1761, they set out the principles on which the organisation should be founded: honesty, faithfulness to one another, fair pricing, majority decision making, and regular contributions to the poor fund. Those may have been radical values for any organisation in the 18th century, but one can argue that the principles are just as relevant today. Indeed, a number of 21st century organisations would do well to look at those founding principles.
For 250 years, co-operation has thrived and grown in Scotland and I believe that it will continue to do so. Some of the old names may be gone, including the Auchinleck Economical Society, the Carrick Providential Co-operative Society, and the Dalmellington Working Men's Co-op, but co-operatives live on. I look forward to the Fenwick Weavers Co-operative Society continuing to play an active role in that process.
I congratulate Willie Coffey on securing the debate, which is important. I commend the outstanding work of the amateur historians John McFadzean and John Smith, both of whom are in the public gallery. They have researched the history of Fenwick and provided evidence that the world's first co-operative was started there. They have recognised the potential tourism and economic benefits that East Ayrshire could secure by establishing a Fenwick weavers heritage centre, which would attract visitors from throughout the world.
Their book on the subject, "The Co-operators: A History of the Fenwick Weavers", makes fascinating reading. If Willie Coffey was interested to note this, I was downright alarmed to read that original records that are now in the National Library of Scotland show short-term loans at a flat rate of 5 per cent and that a certain Margaret Mitchel borrowed the princely sum of one shilling in 1764. Although I assure members that she was not a relative, nonetheless I hope that the loan was repaid, as the interest that would have accrued in the intervening 240 plus years would be, to say the least, prohibitive. I suppose that a loan from Northern Rock is totally out of the question.
Those record books provide documentary evidence that, through their money-lending activities to the needy, the Fenwick weavers were responsible for setting up the earliest credit union. Today, thanks to Andrew Faulds, a descendant of one of the original weavers who gifted the books to the National Library of Scotland, which made them available to view, it has been possible to establish that the society's founding charter was signed by 15 weavers on 14 March 1761. The charter set out the principles of the society, which were honesty, faithfulness to one another, fair pricing, majority decisions, regular contributions to the poor fund and an admission charge of two shillings and sixpence to be used for the good of the society and the people whom it aimed to help. As Cathy Jamieson said, it is significant that those values and principles are just as relevant in the modern co-operative movement as they were then.
When the society closed in 1873, following the success of an immigration society that it had set up in response to the decline of the weaving trade some 34 years earlier, only 500 of Fenwick village's original 2,000 villagers remained. The others had all settled abroad, in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, South Africa and the United States. It is through their descendants, and because of the society's unique history, that the proposed weavers heritage centre will flourish. I hope that the minister will add the Scottish Government's tangible support for the venture, which has the potential to create tremendous economic benefit, not only for Fenwick, but for Ayrshire and the whole of Scotland.
Why did we forget the weavers of Fenwick, until we were reminded of them by our honoured guests tonight? Perhaps because, ironically, the success of a movement tends rather to bury and obscure its pioneer efforts, whereas failures tend to stand out in an otherwise totally empty landscape. The Fenwick weavers in turn influenced many of the men who responded to that mighty force of the 1820s and 1830s, Robert Owen, who was, according to his biographer Leslie Stephen,
"one of these great bores without whom no progress is possible".
New Lanark and its satellites and the men who taught and worked there became the laboratory of benign social change, which Karl Marx summed up as reactionary socialism—members may construe that however they will. Many of those social scientists—Owen coined the phrase—went on to become leaders of other movements. They include remarkable Scots such as the veteran Sandy Campbell, who was in action until the end of the 19th century.
The rise of co-ops after 1850 was remarkable. Victorian liberals such as John Stuart Mill, as well as socialists, regarded co-ops as the best way to organise production as well as retail. They had limitations in accessing capital but had greater wealth in responsibility and solidarity.
The co-operative movement led, with Owen, to a curious religious innovation—the rise of spiritualism. Owen ended up becoming a spiritualist, which he regarded as the really democratic religion, because any working man could be placed in contact with the greatest minds that had ever existed. There were séances at which Shakespeare and Milton would appear to the people of New Lanark, and the message was always the same: "Carry on, Owen. You're doing a great job."
The co-op legacy continues to this day. In fact, the legacy is probably richer now than it was, because of all sorts of other movements. As many members have, I have been involved with co-ops practically all my life—not just with the Co-ops where I have usually shopped, but with universities and further afield. The Open University—probably the greatest achievement of British government in the 1960s, could not have worked but for co-operative principles that went far beyond the "cash nexus". The money that I made from probably my only book to run to a circulation of six figures went towards the building of a crèche—a nice Owenite idea—for the university.
Co-operation was also the basis of the remarkable transport preservation movement. Starting in the 1950s, the movement has kept several hundred miles of railway in the United Kingdom functioning as tourist attractions, and it saved the Waverley—the last sea-going paddle steamer—more than 30 years ago. We should think, too, of voluntary bodies such as the National Trust and its Scottish counterpart, or the Scottish Youth Hostels Association. Again, those bodies are organised on mutual principles.
We are presently facing a contest between giantism and businesses with a human face. A few years back, it seemed that the solution to all commercial ills was to hand things over to the whizz kids. Members may remember that a whizz kid called Andrew Regan nearly bought out the Co-operative movement itself back in 1997. However, what whizzes in can all too easily whizz off again to the next tax paradise. "Demutualised", a word that was easily swallowed two years ago, could now be translated as "almost out of control".
If people wanted to sneer at the old Co-op in the 1950s and 1960s, they asked, "Would you buy a shirt from the Co-op or from Marks and Sparks?" Would they sneer in that way now? It is interesting that, as the big boys such as Tesco or Sainsbury's run into trouble schlepping tax liabilities to dodgy tax havens and fixing up retailing cartels, the Co-op ideal remains.
It is necessary for us—all these years after the Fenwick weavers, in this epoch of carbon reduction and renewable energy—to hold to the ideals that the weavers held to, in which real mutuality will be of the essence in the manner of our survival.
I declare an interest as a Labour and Co-operative Party MSP. I welcome the opportunity to participate in this evening's debate on the Fenwick weavers, and I congratulate Willie Coffey on securing the debate and on his opening speech.
It is important to focus on the work of the Fenwick weavers—not just because they were the first formal co-operative, blazing the trail in 1761, but because so many of the ideals from Fenwick all those years ago still burn brightly in 21st century Scotland.
As other members have said, it is fascinating to look at the story of the Fenwick weavers; and as other members have done, I want to pay tribute to John Smith and John McFadzean for the research that they have done. I also pay tribute to the work of East Ayrshire Council and, in particular, to the work of Jim O'Neill.
The story is really interesting and has many different aspects. The Fowlds family grew up in Fenwick and among their descendants were the first education minister in New Zealand and a member of Parliament in the United Kingdom House of Commons. That shows the quality of people who were about in Fenwick at that time. The quality of the ideals in which they grew up was such that they were able to go forward and occupy such positions of responsibility and leadership both in the UK and in New Zealand.
Such history is important not just because it is interesting, but because it is relevant to today's Scotland. Lessons that we can learn from the history of the Fenwick weavers can be applied in modern Scotland. In fact, when I look round my constituency, I see links that go all the way back to those events of 250 years ago. When I see the Co-op retail stores in Halfway and Cathkin and consider the foundation of the Co-op retail group, I see a sound business model that includes strong ethics. The Co-op is very much recognised as taking a strong moral stand even to this day, but that stretches all the way back to Fenwick. When I see such examples in my constituency, I am very much reminded of that.
The Fenwick weavers also set up a savings scheme to look after fellow members of the community. That community-based scheme was perhaps a forerunner of today's credit unions. In my constituency, credit unions in Cambuslang and Rutherglen give help to the community just as the Fenwick savings scheme gave help to the community all those years ago.
Another outstanding example of how the people of Fenwick sought to advance the wellbeing of the community is their setting up of a library in 1808. They recognised the importance of education. That struck me last night as I attended a local school meeting, which happened to take place in the library, during which I thought about the importance of education. In Parliament, we often talk about how education can be used to grow the economy. Back in 1808, the people of Fenwick set up a library to educate the community better so that people could advance their knowledge and go on to do better jobs. That was demonstrated by the fact that so many of them emigrated to take on more skilled jobs. We still see the benefit of that approach in the work of the Co-operative Education Trust Scotland. CETS is an excellent example of how co-op ideals are still being taken forward.
To sum up, the co-operative model in Fenwick is an excellent example that has carried all the way through to modern Scotland. I see examples of its effect in my constituency. In finishing, I wish the co-op movement well and I hope that it continues to flourish.
This has been an inspirational debate. I have really enjoyed it and I have learned a lot. I congratulate Willie Coffey on securing the debate, but I especially congratulate him on framing the motion in a way that captures the impressive scope of the historical and ground-breaking achievements of the Fenwick Weavers Society.
Like members all round the chamber, I am indebted to John Smith and John McFadzean not just for their custodianship of the society's deed of incorporation and minute book, which contain the memory of its past achievements, but for reminding Fenwick, Ayrshire, Scotland and the world of an important first. The Fenwick Weavers Society was not just a role model for co-operative societies and a precursor of the co-operative movement—although that alone would make it of monumental, society-changing and global significance—but Fenwick made the enlightenment real in practical terms while Edinburgh conceptualised about it. That is absolute proof that, in any era of change, we need a blend of people: those who see a need and can theorise about it and those who actually do something. There is no doubt that the weavers played their part well and were driven by a multifaceted and noble purpose.
I was struck by members' contributions on the principles of honesty, faithfulness, fair pricing, majority decisions and support for the poor, which drove the weavers. Successful companies around the planet have the same key components: they have a noble unifying purpose, sound and virtually altruistic core values to which they stick, and ambitious goals.
I also like James Kelly's idea about the virtuous circle of ideals and quality people, which can reinforce each other. I buy 100 per cent into the point about the modern applicability of the society. The community was educated by reading, by doing, by pioneering and by adhering to principles. That gave its members the confidence in tough times to make the hard decision to emigrate from Scotland.
I was particularly taken by Chris Harvie's comment that we forgot the weavers because they succeeded. That resonated well with me. They generated a contagious idea that gave birth to what Chris Harvie described as "democratic religion". There is a new emphasis on that now in the business arena, which can be linked back to the Fenwick Weavers Society.
The society achieved much more than just establishing the co-operative movement. Its members were early adopters of continuous improvement, which comes over in the motion. W Edwards Deming, the guy who gave birth to all that, has created a philosophy that will move on and become, if not a religion, then a practical ethical guide to how to run a business and create cohesion. The ideas of continuous improvement in the modern and more complex workplace can bring capital, management and people together in a common purpose and help us give people back their pride in their work.
I turn to the development of the retail co-operatives and custodianship of the sound values that I mentioned. There is a role for frugality. I kind of like frugality, because it worked for me in business. It works in that it allows people to make the most of their resources and to maintain a level of dignity, which might be harder in tough times.
I considered these issues in detail just last week. I was the recipient of a book from John Lewis about the noble experiment that it put into play at the turn of the 20th century. There is no doubt that the co-operative movement, and Co-operative Development Scotland in particular, is doing a fantastic job. I understand that CDS will be reviewed internally by Scottish Enterprise later this year. The outcome of that work will inform future decisions on the funding and activities of CDS. I believe that the issues that we have put on the record during the debate will help to inform that and drive it forward.
In essence, the situation now is that we have been given a gentle prompt. How do we handle the legacy as archivists? How do we pull resources together to make things meaningful on the ground? How do we learn from that inheritance and adapt it? How do we honour that inheritance by restating its values, maintaining a long-term frugal approach, and rediscovering continuous improvement and bringing it into government such that we can then wash it back into the private sector and other elements of Scottish life? How can we rediscover and enhance our sense of community and society and bring altruism into our efforts so that we offer people a better blend of motivations—intrinsic as well as extrinsic?
Arguably, in modern society there is too much jumping for the financial jelly bean, when it is healthier to have a business, a co-operative or a Parliament that works for a more noble purpose. Today, Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England, is challenging city bonuses and asking people to return to more sensible remuneration.
Today's debate is extremely timely as it gives us a wake-up call, reminds us of the era of the enlightenment, which the Fenwick weavers straddled, and gives us a nudge in the direction of how we might have a second enlightenment in Scotland, if those values and that approach can be fed into the new Scotland that we all want.
Meeting closed at 17:34.