Robert Owen
(1771-1858)
Died aged c. 87
Wikidata WikipediaRobert Owen (/ˈoʊɪn/; 14 May 1771 – 17 November 1858) was a Welsh textile manufacturer, philanthropist and social reformer, and a founder of utopian socialism and the cooperative movement. He strove to improve factory working conditions, promoted experimental socialistic communities, and sought a more collective approach to child rearing, including government control of education. He gained wealth in the early 1800s from a textile mill at New Lanark, Scotland. Having trained as a draper in Stamford, Lincolnshire he worked in London before relocating aged 18 to Manchester and textile manufacturing. In 1824, he moved to America and put most of his fortune in an experimental socialistic community at New Harmony, Indiana, as a preliminary for his Utopian society. It lasted about two years. Other Owenite communities also failed, and in 1828 Owen returned to London, where he continued to champion the working class, lead in developing cooperatives and the trade union movement, and support child labour legislation and free co-educational schools.
DbPedia
Commemorated on 3 plaques
Robert Owen 1771-1858. Welsh entrepreneur and social reformer whose ideas formed the basis of the world-wide co-operative movement. Lived and worked in Manchester for 12 years working first in a business on this site c.1786
Royal Exchange, St. Ann's Square, Manchester, United Kingdom where they worked
Robert Owen pioneer social reformer and philanthropist 1771 - 1858
?, Newtown, United Kingdom where they was
Robert Owen 1771-1858 Father of the Co-operative movement lived here 1832-1840
4 Burton Place, London, United Kingdom where they was