Embedded Files
102 The banner was hand painted in Birmingham by Woodcraft Members in the 1930s and has been a part of the Birmingham and Midlands Institute Collection for many years.
George Jacob Holyoake (1817–1906), a Birmingham-born giant of the Co-operative movement. George Holyoake had started work in a foundry in Birmingham at 8 years old. At 18 he attended lectures at the BMI where he discovered the socialist and co-operative ideas of Robert Owen. He eventually became a part-time assistant lecturer at the Mechanics’ Institute (part of BMI). Rejected from a full-time teaching post because of his radical socialist views, he went on to write The History of the Rochdale Pioneers and left a massive co-operative legacy leading to Holyoake House in Manchester – still the registered address of the UK movement today.
More about Holyoake
More about Holyoake
Holyoake coined a number of terms now in common use, for example 'secularism' and 'jingoism'. Referring back to 'jingoism' he wrote, "I had certainly intended to mark, by a convenient name, a new species of patriots... [whose] characteristic was a war-urging pretentiousness which discredited the silent, resolute, self-defensiveness of the British people."
Always outspoken, he became the last person in Britain to be convicted for blasphemy in a public lecture, held in Cheltenham. He became a leader in the secularist movement, as well as a staunch advocate of the values of cooperation, freedom of the press, and equality.
How it became one of our 100 Objects
How it became one of our 100 Objects
The banner was loaned from John Boyle, Senate of the Cooperative and Principle Six Officer. He met Woodcraft members at Tolpuddle 2025 with the banner. A chance conversation recognising the Woodcraft logo identified the banner as having come from Birmingham.
References
References
https://woodcraft.org.uk/from-foundry-to-folk-woodcraft-in-birmingham/
https://uncletomstales.com/george-holyoake/
https://www.londonremembers.com/memorials/george-holyoake
https://www.uk.coop/about-us/holyoake-house
https://archive.org/download/historyofrochdal00holyuoft/historyofrochdal00holyuoft.pdf
Where can I find it?
Where can I find it?
At the end of the exhibition this item will be returned to the Birmingham and Midland Institute.
The Holyoake Banner at Rochdale Pioneers Museum as part of our exhibition
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