Galashiels Co-operatives
Galashiels was originally built to accommodate pilgrims to Melrose Abbey and became a burgh of barony in 1599. The Galashiels Manufacturers’ Corporation was established in 1777. To encourage the construction of mills, it built a mill lade alnong which mills could be built. At it's peak Galashiels had a large number of mills operating and a population of about 20,000. The population reduced substantially with the closing of the mills. A train station was opened on the Waverley lin ein 1849, closing in 1969. A new train station opened in 2015.
BORDER CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY 1968-1984
The Society was formed by the merger of Peebles and Galashiels in 1968 with the head office in Galashiels. Innerleithen & Walkerburn joined in 1970.
The Society merged with Hawick & Jedburgh and Selkirk & Kelso in 1984 to form Central Borders. This merged with Dumfries in 1986 to become Border Regional. Border Regional merged with East Lothian in 1992 to form Lothian and Borders. This society merged with East Angus in 1998 to form Lothian, Borders & Angus. In 2008 Lothian, Borders & Angus was absorbed by the CWS
| BORDER CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY LTD | ||
|---|---|---|
| File:BorderCoop.HPt.jpg | ||
| Source | (DRR) | |
| Filename | BorderCoop.HPt | |
| Value | ½ PINT | |
| Add Desc. | ||
| Size (mm) | 22 | |
| Manufacture | Purple Plastic | |
| Notes | ||
| File:BorderCoop.HPta.jpg | ||
| Source | (DRR) | |
| Filename | BorderCoop.HPta | |
| Value | ½ PINT | |
| Add Desc. | ||
| Size (mm) | 22 | |
| Manufacture | Grey Plastic | |
| Notes | ||
| File:BorderCoop.Pt.jpg | ||
| Source | (DRR) | |
| Filename | BorderCoop.Pt | |
| Value | 1 PINT | |
| Add Desc. | ||
| Size (mm) | 25 | |
| Manufacture | Pink Plastic | |
| Notes | ||
GALASHIELS CO-OPERATIVE STORE COMPANY 1839-1909
The rules of the society are dated 1839. One of the rules was that any surplus profits were to be divided among the members every three months by reducing the price of goods. This is in effect an early form of dividends paid in society check. Other rules concerned checks. The member received one check per share. If the member had more tha one check, the member could give one of the additional checks to friends or neighbours. A check had to be shown for someone to make a purchase from the store. Although the founders were Chartists, unlike the society in Hawick, there was no requirement for members to be Chartists.
The society did not open a store until 1842, this store being in Overhaugh Street. In 1845 it was reported that the members had seen a 305 increase in the value of their shares[1]. In May 1853 the society decided to not change it's rules and register under the Provident Societies Act with the majority of the members seeing no benefit in registering[2]. A second vote in October had the same result.
The society re-united with Galashiels Waverley in 1909 to form Galashiel United.
GALASHIELS UNITED CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY 1839-1909
The society was formed by the re-union of Galashiels and Waverley in 1909.
The society united with Peebles in 1968 to form Border.
GALASHIELS WAVERLEY CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY 1867-1909
The society was formed by members disjoining from Galashiels Co-operative Store in 1867.
The society re-united with Galashiels Co-operative Store in 1909 to form Galashiel United.