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Sir Thomas William Allen (6 February 1864 – 24 November 1943) was a British co-operator.

Biography

Allen was born in Abertillery, Monmouthshire, Wales. His father, Thomas Allen, was a Baptist minister. After leaving school he worked for the Tillery Colliery office where he apprenticed in a grocery store. After completing his apprenticeship he began working for the Abertillery Co-operative Society which later merged with the Blaina Co-operative Industrial Society. In 1893 Allen became general manager of the Blaina society.

In 1906 he became a director of the Co-operative Insurance Society and in 1910 became a director of the English Co-operative Wholesale Society, holding both positions until 1933. In 1908 he served as President of Co-operative Congress.

From 1929 to 1933 he was on the executive committee of the International Co-operative Alliance, serving as vice-president. He was chairman of the Consumers' Council during the First World War and was knighted in 1919 for his wartime work. He served as President of the English Co-operative Wholesale Society from 1929 to 1933.

References

1. ^ Bing, H. F. (1972). Bellamy, Joyce M.; Saville, John (eds.). Dictionary of Labour Biography. Internet Archive. Clifton, N.J.: Augustus M. Kelley. pp. 20–21. ISBN 978-0-678-07008-6.
2. Bennett, Graham. "A Brief History of the Co-operative Industrial Provident Society – Abertillery". Out Of The Blue Artifacts. Archived from the original on 2022-07-08. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
3. ^ Allen, T.W. (14 December 2020), Gurney, Peter (ed.), "T.W. Allen's Speech, The 40th Annual Co-operative Congress, 1908", Contemporary Thought on Nineteenth Century Socialism (1 ed.), Routledge, pp. 295–297, doi:10.4324/9780429452352-45, ISBN 978-0-429-45235-2, S2CID 228963124, archived from the original on 2022-07-08, retrieved 2022-07-07
4. Shaffer, Jack (1999). Historical Dictionary of the Cooperative Movement. Internet Archive. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-8108-3666-2.

• British cooperative organizers
• 1864 births
• 1943 deaths
• People from Monmouthshire