The Rochdale Pioneers commence business at their…

The Rochdale Pioneers commence business at their cooperative in Rochdale, England.

The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers, founded on December 21, 1844, is an early consumer co-operative, and one of the first to pay a patronage dividend, forming the basis for the modern co-operative movement.

Although other co-operatives precede them, the Rochdale Pioneers' co-operative will become the prototype for societies in Great Britain.

The Rochdale Pioneers are most famous for designing the Rochdale Principles, a set of principles of co-operation that provide the foundation for the principles on which co-ops around the world operate to this day.

The model the Rochdale Pioneers use is a focus of study within co-operative economics.