John Thomas Whitehead Mitchell (1828-1895), President of the Wholesale Cooperative Society
1828 Born in Rochdale
1853 Mitchell joined the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers
1871 Manufacturer and merchant, living in Rochdale[1]
1874 J. T. W. Mitchell represented the Rochdale Pioneers at the Cooperative Congress in Halifax[2]
Mitchell promoted the strategic direction for co-operative production, as exemplified in the CWS, with all production carried out in large-scale factories governed by the CWS general committee, with the CWS itself being owned and controlled as a federation of local retail co-operative societies. The benefits of co-operation would be realized by the worker as a member. This contrasted with the alternative direction proposed by Christian socialists, who advocated self-governing workshops (with bonuses to labour, profit sharing, and other such measures to distribute the benefits of co-operation)[3].
1895 Died in Rochdale, chairman of the Co-operative Wholesale Society (CWS)[4]
1895 Obituary [5]