Introduction
Perhaps the first co-operative shop in Scotland was set up as early as 1769 when sixteen handloom weavers in the Ayrshire village of Fenwick clubbed together to buy food provisions for sale to its members. Other early co-operatives were soon established in Govan, Kirriemuir, Arbroath, Kilmarnock and Bridgeton in Glasgow. The main purpose of these early co-operatives was to provide affordable goods to the working classes and they were treated with suspicion by the authorities at a time when unions or combinations were illegal.
In the Falkirk area the largest workforce was that of the Carron Iron Works which was accustomed to innovation and change. It is not surprising that a group of them should come together in 1825 to form the Carron Victualling Society as a sort of Joint Stock Company which then formed the backbone of the Scottish economy. New legislation in 1850 – the “Industrial and Provident Societies Act” made it easier to establish such businesses and by then the Rochdale Co-operative was advocating the system. From 1860 onwards there was a flood of new co-operative societies. In our area many of these were set up by colliers to break the truck system whereby men working in a pit bought their provisions from the pit shop and became indebted to the pit owner as a result. In most cases these working class men and women were strongly supported by principled members of the middle class – men who had only recently made it in industry themselves.
The co-operative societies in the Falkirk district include:
| Alloa (Airth) 1862 * | Grangemouth |
| Bo’ness | Larbert |
| Bonnybridge 1863* | Laurieston 1871 * |
| Camelon 1857* | Longcroft 1873 * |
| Carron 1825 * | Redding 1861 * |
| Denny | Slamannan 1861 * |
| Falkirk | Stenhousemuir |
| Grahamston & Bainsford |
Many of these societies donated money to, or took out shares in, new societies as they were set up, creating a virtuous circle.
As well as these retail outlets there were two national production centres in the Falkirk area associated with the Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society – the soapworks at Grangemouth and a pottery at Bo’ness.
Each of the co-operative societies in the Falkirk area was unique. Up the Braes and at Longcroft, Bo’ness and Airth, the societies were dominated by colliers and the society’s fortunes fluctuated according to the state of the mining industry. Colliers soon found that money invested in good times could be called upon in times of dire straits and often referred to the local co-operative as their “savings bank”.
We are not able to provide individual histories of all of the above named societies at the moment, but we have made a start. Those marked with an asterisk have short histories which may be found on this website.
Airth Branch of the Alloa Co-operative Society
Bonnybridge Co-operative Society Ltd
Camelon Co-operative Society Ltd
The Carron Victualling Society
Laurieston Co-operative Society
Longcroft Co-operative Society
Redding Co-operative Society Ltd.
Slamannan Co-operative Society
The SCWS Soapworks, Grangemouth
Building Works
Buildings designed/overseen by Falkirk Architect, J G Callander on behalf of the co-operative societies in the Falkirk district include:
| DATE | SITE | LOCATION |
|---|---|---|
| 1912 | Large Extension to Bakery | Grahamston & Bainsford Co-operative Soc Ltd, Dalderse Avenue |
| 1913 | Shopping Super-Store | Camelon Co-operative Soc Ltd, Main St/ Hedges |
| 1913 | Halls (Cinema) | Camelon Co-operative Soc Ltd, Burnside |
| 1919 | Model Dairy | Grahamston & Bainsford Co-operative Soc Ltd, Hendry St, Bainsford |
| 1923 | Shop Store | Grahamston and Bainsford Co-operative Society central premises, Cow Wynd |
| 1924 | Reconstruction of Bakery (ext 1939) | Dalderse Ave, Grahamston, for Falkirk & District Utd Co-op Soc Ltd |
| 1925 | Stables | Falkirk & District Co-operative Soc Ltd, Thornhill Rd |
| 1927 | Large Bakery Extension | Dalderse Ave for Falkirk & District Co-operative Soc Ltd |
| 1927 | Model Dairy | Union St, Bainsford, for Falkirk & District Utd Co-op Soc Ltd |
| 1928 | Conversion of Shops to Housing | Main St, Larbert, for Falkirk & District Co-op Soc |
| 1930 | Meat Factory | Falkirk & District Utd Co-operative Soc Ltd, Western Avenue |
| 1931 | Larbert Superstore | Falkirk & District Utd Co-operative Soc Ltd, Main Street, Larbert |
| 1931 | Shop | Falkirk & District Utd Co-operative Soc Ltd, Thornhill Rd |
| 1934-1938 | Superstore | Falkirk & District Utd Co-operative Soc Ltd, Kirk Wynd/ Bank St |
Falkirk Local History Society 