ABSTRACT
The Women’s Co-operative Guild grew out of the English consumers’ Co-operative movement. As Margaret Llewelyn Davies wrote, ‘it is through Co-operation that the married woman living at home finds her work and place in the Labour world.’ 1 On the face of it the late 19th century Co-operative movement might seem an unlikely location for a radical women’s organization. Generally regarded as a leading institution of working-class self help, its success and dynamism as a trading enterprise was accompanied by a reputation for political moderation and social conservatism. To understand why it should have spawned the Guild project it is necessary to appreciate both the size and scope of the movement, and the unusual opportunities that it afforded its female membership.
