Lady Alice Sophia Acland (; 3 February 1849 – 5 July 1935) was the founder, the first General Secretary and the first president of the

Co-operative Women's Guild The Co-operative Women's Guild was an auxiliary organisation of the co-operative movement in the United Kingdom which promoted women in co-operative structures and provided social and other services to its members. History The guild was founded ...

Personal life

Alice Acland was born on 3 February 1849 to Reverend Francis Macaulay Cunningham and Alice Charlotte Poore. She grew up in Hampshire and Oxford, and received a church education. She married

Sir Arthur Dyke Acland, 13th Baronet Sir Arthur Herbert Dyke Acland, 13th Baronet, PC (13 October 18479 October 1926) was a Liberal politician and political author. He is best remembered for his involvement in education, serving as Vice-President of the Council of Education under ...

on 14 June 1873, with whom she later had two sons and a daughter.

Role in the Co-operative Women's Guild

Alice's husband was an advocate for educational opportunities for working-class men. She travelled with him on speaking tours which led to her own involvement in providing more opportunities for working-class women. She noted the value of The Cooperative Movement and its potential to provide opportunities for women, as women held purchasing power for their households. Acland began writing articles about women's lives for '' Cooperative News''. On 6 January 1883, ''Cooperative News'' editor

Samuel Bamford Samuel Bamford (28 February 1788 – 13 April 1872) was an English radical reformer and writer born in Middleton, Lancashire. He wrote on the subject of northern English dialect and wrote some of his better known verse in it. Biography Bamford ...

created the column ''Women's Corner'' and appointed Acland as editor. Her first appeal set in motion women's role in the Cooperative movement, stating: Her column's popularity led to coordination of the Women's League for the Spread of Co-operation, soon after renamed the

. Formation of a central board and meeting space for women was proposed in a letter to ''Women's Corner'' from "M.L. Woolwich", a pseudonym of

Mary Lawrenson Mary Ann Lawrenson (née Molyneux; 23 March 1850 – 1 January 1943) was an English activist in the co-operative movement and an educationalist. A co-founder of the Co-operative Women's Guild, she served as its general secretary from 1885 to 1889 ...

who became a co-founder of the Guild. The Guild was formally inaugurated in June 1883. Acland served as

General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

of the guild in 1883, but resigned from the position due to ill-health. She served as President from 1884–1886, again resigning due to further health problems.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Acland, Alice 1849 births 1935 deaths Co-operative Women's Guild Feminism in the United Kingdom People from Petersfield Wives of baronets 19th-century British women 20th-century British people 20th-century British women