Andrew Bibby journalist, writer and historian, has written his second book on co-operation, this time writing about the relationship between co-operation and improved working class housing, an important topic in the years 1870 to 1919. The book has a great deal to say about our region and its contribution to co- operative housing. It highlights the housing developments in Burnage, Chorlton, Fairfield and Oldham, the most significant in our region, now largely forgotten. He ends his account in 1919 when council housing emerges as the focus for improving working class housing. This is very much the story of self help and co-operation influenced by the emergence of the garden city movement. It is a neglected part of our social history, and the Burnage garden village was a significant influence on both co-operation and the labour movement in Manchester.
Developments in Oldham owed a great deal to the influence of Sarah Lees, certainly the richest woman in the town, possibly the wealthiest person. One of the first women mayors in the country, she was a Liberal and a philanthropist and her efforts to improve working class housing arose out of the ‘ Beautiful Oldham’ movement. She offers an interesting contrast with Thomas Marr, warden of the Manchester settlement movement which was based in Ancoats and associated with the University. Marr was an influential figure in Manchester politics who wrote a major account of Manchester’s Edwardian housing problems and later served on the city council. Though the book is national in scope it has a great deal of significance for historians of our region. Andrew Bibby has shone a light on a neglected aspect of housing history as well as reminding us of the significance of co-operation and its influence on working class society before 1914. Finally having grown up near Burnage it was a pleasure to read about the garden village, there is more to Burnage than just Oasis!
Alan Fowler