With help from volunteers we are working on our archive material we have at Holyoake House, revising documentation and making it more accessible to all. In this post, volunteer Catherine Monaghan describes her cataloguing and research into Co-op Party MP Caroline Ganley.

A folder of Ephemera - by Catherine

A vast amount of people have been involved in the co-operative movement, and being able to learn about the life of these individuals while volunteering has been an incredible privilege and one that I have thoroughly enjoyed. One member I’ve been able to study in depth is Caroline Ganley, a Labour and Co-operative Party politician. Caroline Ganley became and MP for Battersea South and was a dedicated member of the Co-operative Women’s Guild.

I’ve recently been cataloguing a collection of documents surrounding her and her work within politics, leading me into learning more about her. This small folder of items are mainly ephemera-programmes and leaflets relating to her political life and are from 1911 up to 1980. They feature programmes of meetings and carnivals of the Labour and Co-op Party movement highlighting the range of talks, songs that were important at these events and the promotion of the co-operative movement.

Programme for the International Labour Carnival, May 1st 1913, Papers of Caroline Ganley, Co-op Archive.

Throughout her life, Ganley was involved in a range of left wing politics, from declaring herself a pacifist in opposition to the second Boer war, to campaigning for women’s suffrage, and was involved in establishing the Battersea branch of the Women’s Labour League. Ganley was also highly involved in the co-operative movement and was elected as a director for the West London Co-operative Society in 1918, continuing to act as Director for its successor the London Co-operative Society. 
The image below is the front cover of a meeting at Battersea Town Hall in 1924 which also featured and address by Eleanor Barton, the General Secretary of the Women's Guild. 

Programme for London Co-operative Political Meeting, 24th Jan, 1926, Caroline Ganley Collection, Co-op Archive.
 
Ganley was elected as the president of the society in 1942, the first woman to do so and held the position till 1946. She was also involved in the Women’s Co-operative Guild, first as a member of the Lavender Hill branch and then holding a number of positions within the Guild. Her involvement led to her being invited to be one of the speakers at the Guild’s diamond jubilee celebrations in 1943.

Ganley stood for, and won the position of MP for Battersea South from 1945, part of the labour party’s landslide victory. The election leaflet from 1945 stated the areas Labour wanted to reform such as housing, social insurance, international relations and the importance of the co-op movement and collective ownership important with Ganley being the 'selected candidate of the Labour Party, Trade Unions and Co-operators' 

Leaflet for Election Address, 5th Jul 1945, Caroline Ganley Collection, Co-op Archive.

Ganley held her position through the general election in 1950 by a thin margin. However in 1951 a snap election was called with the aim of gaining a larger parliamentary majority, as Labour only had a small majority over the Conservatives. There had been losses of members due to death and illness of MPs and there was a divide within the Party itself between the left wing and more centrist leaning in the party. This put them in a poor position for the election.

In the end the Labour Party won the popular vote, but the Conservatives gained the parliamentary majority due to the first past the post system, with the change being largely attributed to the collapse of the liberal vote. Ganley was one of the MPs who lost their seat, losing to the Conservative candidate by a small margin of less than 2% of the votes.

This loss didn’t stop her political career and she was re-elected to the Battersea council in 1953 and in that same year she was awarded a CBE. She remained a member of the council until 1965. 

Leaflet for Co-operators Day, 5th Jul 1924, Caroline Ganley Collection, Co-op Archive.

Caroline Ganley died a year later, aged 86, after living an extraordinary life full of dedicated service to the co-operative movement and her community.  If you want to research the Caroline Ganley Collection or the Co-op Party material at the Co-op Archive, please look at our website for more information of how to book a place.