National Cooperative Archive

National Co-operative Archive


Situated in the centre of Manchester, the National Co-operative Archive is home to a wide selection of records relating to the history of the global co-operative movement. The collections include rare books, periodicals, manuscripts, films, photographs and oral histories, and provide researchers with an unrivalled resource for the study of the development of the co-operative movement, from the initial ideas of the eighteenth century to the present day.

In January 2010 Gillian Lonergan, Head of Archive and Learning Resources at the Co-operative College, travelled to Galashiels to rescue some of the records of the societies that merged to form Lothian and Borders Co-operative Societ.   A student from the Liverpool University Masters of Archive and Records Management course has been working in the archive to arrange and catalogue the records. The catalogue is now available to view online at http://archiveshub.ac.uk/search/record.html?recid=gb1499lbc
 There is also a link from the National Co-operative Archive website.


The collection covers the period 1840-1944 and includes a wide range of records including photographs, correspondence, balance sheets, minutes and building records. One of the most interesting items is a poster advertising the opening of a second shop at Galashiels in June 1845 only six months after the Rochdale Pioneers opened their first store.