Owenism

When Owenism and Chartism had burned themselves out, England had become poorer by that substance out of which the Anglo-Saxon ideal of a free society could have been built up for centuries to come.

Owen, who became the manager of the enterprise 200 years ago, adopted the principles of the social market, so pivotal to the social democracy of today. ‘Owenism’ provided the country's first nursery, schooling for workers' children long before it was compulsory, welfare benefits and, most significantly, higher education in the form of an Institute for the Formation of Character.