Place Name
Charles Howarth (1814 – 1868) was the architect of the first Co-op at 15 Toad Lane, Rochdale, Lancashire, and it was he who invented the Co-op dividend. In 1844 he became one of its trustees, and drafted the society’s rules learning the lessons from an earlier failure of co-operative store ownership which went bust because too many people couldn’t afford to pay their weekly shopping bills. He apparently came up with the idea of the divi one fitful night awakening his wife’s slumbers with shouts of: “I’ve got, I’ve got it!” The divi, which financially rewarded Co-op members based on their level of trade with the Society, proved a hit with shoppers. Consumer co-operatives around the world have since followed this principle. He went on to become the auditor for the Heywood Co-operative Society and a director of the Co-operative Insurance Company. He was also prominent agitator for the Ten Hours Act which restricted the hours that women and children could work in factories. This street, like others on the Bostall Estate, is named after key figures and achievements of the Co-operative movement. The Bostall Estate was laid out between 1900 and 1914 by the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society Ltd over fields previously belonging to Bostall Farm and Suffolk Place Farm, which the RACS had acquired in 1886 and 1899 respectively. Chalk, sand and gravel necessary for the construction were excavated on site. Here also the RACS built a piggery, abattoir, and a jam factory.
