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Scottish Cooperative Women's Guild
The Scottish Cooperative Women's Guild was a women's political and social organisation which was part of the Co-operative movement in Scotland. While the first retail cooperative societies can be traced back to earlier in the nineteenth century the first large scale cooperative society was formed in 1863 in England with the North of England Co-operative Wholesale Industrial and Provident Society Limited being launched in Manchester. By 1872, it was known as the 'Co-operative Wholesale Society' (CWS). The Scottish Cooperative Wholesale Society (SCWS) had been established in 1868.

A Women's Co-operative League was first proposed in 1883. The first Scottish Cooperative Women's Guild was established as part of the Kinning Park Co-operative Society in 1890.[1] In the early years the Scottish Co-operative Women's Guild initially provided a space for working-class women to get involved in the politics of the Co-operative movement but also for women come together for recreation and friendship. There were educational talks and demonstrations but also social activities. At the height of its popularity in 19XX there were X branches. The Scottish Cooperative Women's Guild is no longer active. The last annual general meeting was in XXXX.

Early years
In the years before the First World War the Scottish Cooperative Women's Guild was the largest working-class women’s organisation in Scotland, and was aimed at the wives of the ‘better off’ sections of the working class.[4]

Eileen Yeo

Membership and growth - insert table.

The expansion and development of the Guild eventually resulted in the need for subdivision into eight sections, each with an executive committee.

Interwar years
The First World War disrupted many of the Scottish Cooperative Women's Guild’s activities as Callen states a large number of ‘our halls and meeting places were commandeered by the government for military purposes’.[9] As a result the Guild became disorganised and many branches closed until alternative accommodation could be found. In spite of such disruption Callen argues that the educational work of the Guild was ‘fully maintained’ throughout the war.

Cooperative politics
However not all members were in agreement with the Guild’s increasing involvement in the promotion of direct Co-operative representation in Parliament.[10] Outspoken members argued that the Labour Party and Independent Labour Party ILP represented the Co-operative movement, and the proposed formation of a Co-operative Party was a waste of money and resources. The Guild continued to canvass and support the Labour Party and ILP as well as the Co-operative Party. In 1925 when the central council made it compulsory for branches to affiliate to the Co-operative Party further protests were raised, most vociferously by Mrs Helen Gault of Knightswood, a well-known ILP propagandist.[11] Yet, the education provided for members by the Guild largely focused on Co-operative politics and ideology.

The classes for women Co-operators and speaker’s classes encouraged women to actively use this education and stand as candidates themselves in local elections. The central council also expected guildwomen to take a more prominent role in the Co-operative movement and put themselves forward for positions on the committees of Co-operative societies, the Co-operative Party and other related bodies.

In spite of this conflict over the aims of the Guild, the central council continued to encourage guildswomen to consider ‘co-operative subjects and questions affecting the movement’ such as questions on civic politics, health and housing, travel and education.[21]  While a new emphasis was placed on the importance of guildwomen’s involvement in Co-operative politics, many of the themes discussed by the Guild in the pre-war period continued to be relevant, illustrating a continuity in the immediate concerns of working-class women. The medical inspection of school children and free school meals were prominent on the agenda of the Guild in the earlier period, with the equivalent in the interwar period being its demand for free milk for school children. Similarly in the pre-war period the Guild demanded a minimum wage of Co-operative employees, many of whom were women, with increased wages for female Co-operative employees being a concern in the 1920s and 1930s.

Demonstrations, friendship and socialising
Many members continued to oppose the politicisation of the Guild, especially those who were not politically motivated in terms of seeking representation within the movement or in municipal politics. The Guild attracted many such women, who viewed the Guild as an opportunity for recreation. It was a place that they could go to get away from the domestic drudgery of the home. Indeed one of the Guild’s original aims was to ‘enable the women of the Co-operative movement to meet together in friendly converse and by so doing, help to break the monotonous existence of even the most comfortable home’.[12]  Guild meetings also provided the opportunity for working-class women to meet other women of a similar age and background, who could provide friendship and support, and also financial, child-rearing, and home management advice. The love and friendship offered by the Guild was much publicised in their own publications and it was suggested that ‘many, many women, lonely and despairing, have been restored to new life and interest by the loving help of her Guild sisters’.[13]

Members also emphasised the social functions of the Guild, Mary Tourish a member of the Springburn Guild, stated that

''It was a social life for them and somewhere for them to go and they were interested in the Guild as a social life cause in these days they didn’t have the Bingo, and they loved the Guild. Once a month we had a dance and we had hot pie and peas and a wee dance. And we had speakers or somebody comin’ demonstrating to us.[14]''

Such demonstrations largely focused upon improving housewifery. These were very popular in the Guild’s early years, with topics such as ‘flannelette and its dangers’ being common.[15] Similarly sewing classes, cookery demonstrations and health lectures were all prominent features of early Guild programmes. Such domestic training for women remained popular in the Guild branches and with members in the interwar period. Arts and crafts classes were also provided which allowed the ‘creation of lovely and useful articles’.

However, while such classes had co-existed with the political aspect of the Guild throughout its existence, in the early 1930s explicit divisions began to appear between the central council and the membership as a result of increasing emphasis placed on Co-operative politics throughout the 1920s. In 1931 the president Mrs Hardstaff stated that ‘perhaps even more gratifying than the increase in membership is the greater interest branches are taking in vital matters’.[16]  She argued that it was essential that branches ‘get away, if possible’ from domestic affairs. Hardstaff insisted that

''No matter how nice and pleasant it may be to do fancy work, we are not going to bring about great reforms by fancywork classes. The time for fancy work classes in our branches is past:  we must go forward. [17]''

A year later she even expressed relief at the fact that such classes were ‘receding into the background’ and had even been abolished by some branches’. Hardstaff branded this a ‘step in the right direction’.[18] Such sentiments, and the designation of political educational classes as more worthy, alienated those members who attended Guild meetings for ‘a night out’. In this respect, the Guild provided an important function for many of the working-class guildwomen. While there were many forms of entertainment in urban areas, it was not necessarily the case that the working-class housewife could afford to participate, or if she perceived herself to be a ‘respectable’ working-class woman, want to frequent the dancehall, pub or cinema. The Guild meeting was one source of reliable recreation for many women. Hardstaff was aware of this and tried to resolve the conflict developing between those members who advocated politics and those who wanted the Guild to remain recreational in nature. She stated that ‘all progress is slow’ with some branches being ‘much more progressive than others’, therefore she urged

The more active and progressive to be kindly and tolerant, and to realise that our guild organisation has among its members many women who have had a hard life; many who have been fighting poverty all their days, and whose time has been taken up with a multitude of duties, having little or no opportunity to study questions relating to the Co-operative Movement or of national importance. To many the Guild is a ‘night out’ and we welcome them, even if it is for the ‘night out’ that they come, and earnestly hope that they will soon realise the greatness of the Co-operative Movement and take an interest in the ideals and principles.[19]

Political concerns
The Guild’s increasing commitment to Co-operative politics was accompanied by an emphasis on wider working-class concerns.[22]  The rising level of unemployment became an important issue for the Guild in the interwar years, with resolutions relating to this issue being frequently submitted to the government. These often demanded that unemployment should be treated as a national problem rather than a local burden. In particular, youth unemployment was targeted by the Guild. It demanded that the Government raise the school age to sixteen, and argued that proposed economy cuts in education be reduced. The Guild also protested against the household means test, arguing as many working-class organisations did, that this measure broke up homes and resulted in many families living on the poverty line.[23]  In addition the Guild supported the trade union movement and the workers it represented, most notably the miners in the strike of 1921 and general strike of 1926.

The Scottish Cooperative Women's Guild also promoted measures that would ensure female equality.[24]  Like the Glasgow Society for Equal Citizenship and the Edinburgh Women's Citizens Associations, it campaigned for a further extension of the franchise until this was gained in 1928 (INSERT NAME OF ACT). Indeed it sent its first petition for women’s suffrage to the government in 1893, and was the first advocate for this measure among the broader labour movement. From the Guild’s inception, the central council encouraged branches to consider ‘all questions relating to women’.[25]  The Guild affiliated to, and had delegates on the committee of the non-militant GSS, which later became the GSEC. [26]  It was also instrumental in the rent strikes of 1915, and subsequent campaigns in the interwar period for rent restrictions.[27]  Related demands for adequate housing were also a central plank of the Guild’s agenda throughout the interwar years. Improved maternity care, child welfare provisions, mother’s pensions and family allowances were also prominent issues on its agenda.

In addition the Scottish Guild was prominently involved in the formation of the International Co-operative Women’s Guild (ICWG) in 1921. At the international congresses held by the ICWG, Co-operative Guilds and the equivalents in many European countries met to discuss which issues and reforms were being pursued in each country.[28]  Prominent guildswomen from all of the countries attended such as Margaret Llewelyn Davies and Eleanor Barton from England, Frau Freundlich from Austria and Miss Callen represented Scotland throughout the period. The issues discussed often reflected and even led discussions in the national guilds. Those adopted in Scotland included ‘The Rights of Women in Co-operative Societies’, ‘Mothers of the Future’ and ‘Resolutions on Disarmament’, which was designed to unite guildwomen in their campaign for peace.[29]  Callen argues that such frequent conferences allowed relations to be strengthened between Scottish guildwomen and women Co-operators overseas. In this way members acquired ‘a deeper knowledge of each other’s difficulties and problems’ and were ‘imbued with a keen desire to help and encourage our sister guildwomen’.[30]  By attending such conferences Scottish women could also meet with their Co-operative sisters and in the words of Callen ‘find them inspired by the same ideals, facing the same difficulties and sharing the same hopes’.[31]

Campaigning
The Guild provided women with educational opportunities and encouraged them to become involved in Co-operative politics with the hope that this would result in women gaining positions of influence within the movement and in wider society. This drive for political awareness may have alienated some members who did not believe that the Co-operative movement should be politically represented, or simply were not interested in the politics of the movement, but it did not seem to adversely affect the membership figures.[32]  In fact the central council insisted that ‘considering the very many counter attractions that are provided for the education and amusement of the masses, the Guild was more than holding its own’.[33]  The president Mrs Hardstaff argued in 1933 that ‘year by year the Guild increases in number, and we may congratulate the Guild on the progress that has been achieved, and we are encouraged to continue to educate and agitate for the social reforms that are so necessary for the welfare of the community’.[34]  Therefore for many guildwomen the Guild provided the ‘link between the home and the great world beyond’.[35]

The Guild divided its campaigns into three categories: political, social and co-operative propaganda. The latter referred to the promotion of issues that related directly to the Co-operative movement and also to what will be termed ‘class issues’. It was the promotion of this type of campaign that distinguishes the Guild from the other organisations under consideration. The Guild’s involvement in the Co-operative movement was ideologically significant in framing its perception of a range of issues.[1]  This was true of its political and social propaganda, which generally related to legislative reform and welfare provision respectively. While such issues were promoted by the GSEC and the EWCA, the Guild’s campaigns differed in that they explicitly focused on the needs of working-class women. This was the case both in terms of the legislation sought, such as improvements to widow’s pensions, and in its consideration of ‘social propaganda’ including the provision of maternity services and affordable housing. Co-operative ideology, and the Guild’s involvement in the Co-operative movement, therefore shaped the issues and campaigns it supported, and its feminism. This was reflected in the education provided for members. [1] The influence of Co-operative ideology on the Guild is also discussed in chapter two.

Education

Health

Housing

Immediate Postwar years

End of an era? [1] K. M. Callen, History of the Scottish Co-operative Women’s Guild, SCWS, Glasgow, 1952, p. 2.

[2] Representatives from eleven branches attended the first meeting of the central council in Glasgow with Mrs Rutherford being elected general secretary. At a meeting in November 1892 the constitution was agreed upon and the central committee was formed to include Mrs McLean as president.

[3] The Co-operative movement was established in Scotland with the formation of the Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society in 1868. While the Co-operative movement began essentially as a consumer’s movement for more equitable trade and fairer prices for the working classes, ideological demands for a fairer distribution of wealth and demands for a Co-operative Commonwealth, where nations could trade fairly free of capitalism, soon resulted in the formation of a political side to the movement and distinct Co-operative political ideology and associated discourses.

[4] E. Gordon, Women and the Labour Movement in Scotland, 1850-1914, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1991, p. 266.

[5] See appendix 1b, figures 1 and 2.

[6] See appendix 1a, graph 2. This rise in membership may be attributed to increased family incomes following the return of husbands from war, which may have enabled more working-class women to pay the subscription fees.

[7] Scottish Co-operative Women’s Guild (SCWG), Thirty-forth Annual Report, Glasgow Regional Archives, CSW1/39/6/34, 1927-1928, and Thirty-seventh Annual Report, CSW1/39/6/37, 1930-1931.

[8] Callen, History of the Scottish Co-operative Women’s Guild, p. 15.

[9] Ibid, p. 18.

[10] See chapter four for further details.

[11] Helen Gault’s career in municipal politics will be discussed in greater detail in chapter six.

[12] As quoted in Gordon, Women and the Labour Movement in Scotland, p. 266.

[13] Callen, History of the Scottish Co-operative Women’s Guild, p. vii.

[14] J. Faley, Up Oor Close, Memories of Domestic Life in Glasgow Tenements, 1910-1945, Oxford, White Cockade in association with Springburn Museum Trust, 1990, p. 126.

[15] Gordon, Women and the Labour Movement in Scotland, p. 267.

[16] SCWG, Thirty-eighth Annual Report, CSW1/39/6/38, 1931-1932.

[17] Ibid.

[18] SCWG, Thirty-ninth Annual Report, CSW1/39/6/39, 1932-1933.

[19] Ibid.

[20] SCWG, Thirty-eighth Annual Report, CSW1/39/6/38, 1931-1932.

[21] SCWG, Thirty-ninth Annual Report, CSW1/39/6/39, 1932-1933.

[22] Each of the following issues is discussed in much greater detail in chapter four.

[23] See chapters four and six for a more detailed description of the Household Means Test and its effects.

[24] A detailed analysis of each of these issues will be provided in chapter two.

[25] Gordon, Women and the Labour Movement in Scotland, p. 268.

[26] Ibid.

[27] The Guild’s involvement in the Rent Strikes and subsequent Rent Restriction legislation will be discussed in chapter four.

[28] The first international congress was held in Basle in 1921, followed by Brussels in 1923, Ghent in 1924, Stockholm in 1927, Vienna in 1930, London in 1934, which coincided with the English Guild’s Jubilee celebrations, and Paris in 1937.

[29] Callen, History of the Scottish Co-operative Women’s Guild, p. 11.

[30] Ibid, p. 12.

[31] Ibid, p. 13. The ICWG continued traditions of ‘Internationalism’ inherent in Co-operative ideology, which outlined plans for a ‘Co-operative commonwealth’ where all people worked together for the common good. This was based on an alternative democracy where capitalism would be abolished in favour of a society built upon collectivism.

[32] Again see appendix 1a, graph 2.

[33] SCWG, Thirty-eighth Annual Report, CSW1/39/6/38, 1931-1932.

[34] Ibid, and SCWG, Fortieth Annual Report, CSW1/39/6/40, 1933-1934.

[35] Callen, History of the Scottish Co-operative Women’s Guild, p. 11.