Percy Redfern (1875 – 11 February 1958) was a

co-operative movement The history of the cooperative movement concerns the origins and history of cooperatives across the world. Although cooperative arrangements, such as mutual insurance, and principles of cooperation existed long before, the cooperative movement bega ...

writer and journalist and an advocate for consumer co-operation.

Biography

Redfern was born the illegitimate son of a housekeeper in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

in 1875. He was raised by his father, Francis Redfern, who was an architect and by his stepmother. He went to seven different schools, including

Nottingham Grammar School , motto_translation = Praise to the end , address = Waverley Mount , city = Nottingham , county = Nottinghamshire , postcode = NG7 4ED , country = England , coordinates = , type = Independent day school , established = , closed = , religious ...

, before becoming an apprentice to a

draper Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. History Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period ...

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

. He disliked the harsh conditions and corrupt practices of the

retail industry Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...

and began to take an interest in

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

. He joined the

Social Democratic Federation The Social Democratic Federation (SDF) was established as Britain's first organised socialist political party by H. M. Hyndman, and had its first meeting on 7 June 1881. Those joining the SDF included William Morris, George Lansbury, James Con ...

, contributed to the Federation's paper ''

Justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

'' and became an active member of the

Independent Labour Party The Independent Labour Party (ILP) was a British political party of the left, established in 1893 at a conference in Bradford, after local and national dissatisfaction with the Liberals' apparent reluctance to endorse working-class candidates ...

. Redfern was a pacificist and vegetarian. He had a succession of jobs including working for a

wholesaler Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In g ...

and as a storekeeper for the Manchester

Vegetarian Society The Vegetarian Society of the United Kingdom is a British registered charity which was established on 30 September 1847 to promote vegetarianism. History In the 19th century a number of groups in Britain actively promoted and followed meat ...

. In 1899 he began working in a clerical job in Manchester for the

Co-operative Wholesale Society A co-operative wholesale society, or CWS, is a form of co-operative federation (that is, a co-operative in which all the members are co-operatives), in this case, the members are usually consumer cooperatives. According to co-operative economi ...

(CWS) and subsequently began editing the CWS's monthly magazine the ''Wheatsheaf'' and its annual, the ''People's Year Book''. In his 1920 manifesto ''The Consumers' Place in Society'' he advocated for consumer co-operation, arguing that the consumer has a key role to play in bringing about a new social order through voluntary collectivism. He ascribed central importance to the book

Looking Backward ''Looking Backward: 2000–1887'' is a utopian science fiction novel by Edward Bellamy, a journalist and writer from Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts; it was first published in 1888. The book was translated into several languages, and in short or ...

at the time of the rise of the 'New Socialism.' In his autobiography he testified that 'to grasp at every means of radical change I read more industrial history, more of the opposite socialist futures pictured by Bellamy."Beaumont, Matthew. “William Reeves and Late-Victorian Radical Publishing: Unpacking the Bellamy Library.” ''History Workshop Journal'', no. 55 (2003): 91–110. In 1913 he wrote his first history of the Co-operative Wholesale Society, ''The Story of the C.W.S.'', followed in 1938 by ''The New History of the C.W.S.'' He retired from the Co-operative Wholesale Society in 1938 but continued his work as a writer, with his autobiography ''Journey to Understanding'' published in 1946. He died in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

on 11 February 1958 and was buried at the Southern Cemetery in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

Publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Redfern, Percy 1875 births 1958 deaths British cooperative organizers British vegetarianism activists English journalists English writers People from Leicester