Welsh Blankets
Robert Owen was born on 14th May 1771 in Newtown, Montgomeryshire in mid Wales. He was the sixth of seven children born to Robert Owen (Senior) who was an ironmonger, saddler and postmaster. At the age of 19 he started his own business. He borrowed £100 and began his life as an entrepreneur and social reformer.
He became known as the ‘Father of British Socialism’ and Owen was, in many ways, centuries ahead of his time with his ideas of a workers’ utopia, socialist reform and universal charity. He had been an avid reader from a young age with a questioning intellect and a thirst for industry and improvement. He died on 17 November 1858 aged 87. Although he travelled extensively during his life, he returned home and died in Newtown, the place of his birth.
On his return to Britain in 1828, Owen became, for a time, a recognised leader of the working-class movement. He helped to set up the Grand National Consolidated Trades Union and in 1832, established the National Equitable Labour Exchange in London. Aged 64, Owen founded the Association of All Classes of All Nations. This was later known as the Universal Community Society of Rational Religionists or, more briefly, The Rational Society. By 1840 it had around 50,000 members and its weekly newspaper, the New Moral world, ran for over ten years with circulation peaking at 40,000. Owen also became involved with various attempts to establish model communities.
Although he was opposed to organised religion, in his last years, Owen converted to spiritualism. He continued to write and make speeches but was not taken particularly seriously.
The museum is located in Newtown at The Cross, Broad St, Newtown SY16 2BB and celebrates Owen's life and career.
Located in Pembrokeshire Wales, our ethos is defined in the three words...
NATURAL TRADITIONAL HANDMADE.
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Last updated 18th October 2024
