This early work by Beatrice Potter Webb was originally published in
1921and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory
biography. 'The Consumer's Cooperative Movement' is a fascinating work
on social history and industry. Beatrice Potter Webb was born in
Gloucester, England in 1858. Both her mother and brother died early in
her childhood leaving her to be raised by her father, Richard Potter. He
was a successful businessman with large railroad interests and many
influential friends in politics and industry whose company the young
Beatrice would become accustomed to. Upon reaching adulthood, Potter
moved to London and helped her cousin, Charles, a social reformer,
research his book The Life and Labour of the People in London. It was
during this time that she was introduced to Sidney James Webb, who later
became her husband and collaborator. The Webb's, together, wrote eleven
volumes of work which arguably shaped the way subsequent scholars
thought about sociology. They also collaborated on more than 100 books
and articles on the conditions of factory workers, and the economic
history of Britain, among other subjects.