Unlocking Collections Volunteer Georgia Scholes writes:

I am one of the volunteers working on the Unlocking Collections project, a collaboration between the Co-operative Heritage Trust and Rochdale Local Studies funded through Arts Council.

I’ve been working on, and in turn have become obsessed with, the short lived publication named ‘The Rachde Kronikul un Workin Mon’s Lantrun’, (The Rochdale Chronicle and Working Man’s Lantern). It was written in a Rochdale dialect and published between 1852-1853.

Radical News

The Chartist radical newspaper, the Northern Star, which brought together writing on social reform and radical, political causes, ended publication in 1852. After this, there was a plethora of radical literature printed nationally and regionally. this included Holyoake's 'The Reasoner' and 'The People's Paper' edited by Ernest Jones. The first home of the 1870 Co-op Union was at Long Millgate, near to the Co-operative Quarter. The street was known for radical printers and booksellers, a place to hear public speakers and hold agitant's meetings. One corner of Millgate was known as ‘Poet’s Corner’ and those who began the Co-operative Press in the 1870s could also be found in the area.

The newspaper was a short-lived publication, we think of 9 issues, produced by the Rochdale Co-operative Society and was produced to support independent journalism and raise the profile of co-operative and socialist content for working class communities. It was available in the library of the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society, but accessible to many as it was intended to be read aloud at a time the movement were promoting equality of education for the masses.

Georgia digitising material at Holyoake House

The Chronicle

All volumes are housed in the Co-operative Heritage Trust Archive at Holyoake House, and it was produced as tool for the Co-operative movement to promote and support, not only independent journalism, but also facilitate the education of working-class communities through their own language and dialect.

Some items appear in dialect for various reasons and the dialect movement itself changes throughout the 19^th and into the 20^th century with a resurgence in interest around the First World War. It is debated by academics that in the mid 19^th C dialect literature was closely patronized by the middle classes and that only the development of more independent press allowed it to be more associated with working class voice. What is true is that it appears in both middle and working class contexts for a variety of reasons to convey a message – but usually this idea is to underpin a point in ‘plain language of the common sense’.

Other examples of dialect writing, such as Ethel Carnie Holdsworth’s work, can be found in copies of Wheatsheaf and the Co-op News.

One of the poems from the Rochdale Chronicle Vol 7

Rochdale Printers

Unfortunately, we don’t know much about the history surrounding the Kronikul but through research at Rochdale Local Studies we were able to find information about it’s printer Henry Morrit Crosskill.

Crosskill was a printer/bookseller born 1808 in Beverley Yorkshire and moved to Rochdale around the 1830s. Initially starting as a printer, the business went bankrupt in 1845 but rebranded and continued to trade until around 1862 when he once again declared bankruptcy. The Rachde Kronikul was printed at 86 Yorkshire Street, but Crosskill’s most infamous print was that of a poster advertising a performance of Pablo Franque’s Circus Royal in Rochdale which was then used by John Lennon as inspiration for the Beatles song  ‘Being for the benefit of Mr Kite’.

Crosskill himself tired to set up a few co-operative societies but most failed after allowing too much credit. Crosskill died November 1878 in Rochdale at 70 years old after struggling with chronic Bronchitis after living the life of a devout printer.

The Rachde Kronikul was one of the earliest newspapers in Rochdale beating The Rochdale Observer which began publication in February 1856. The closest publication in date was ‘The Pilot and the Rochdale Reporter’, a conservative newspaper which ran from 1847 to 1853. In its first edition, it mentions the lack of periodicals in Rochdale. The Pilot also had a few editions printed by Crosskill and sold by Hartley & Howorth

Digitising the Newspaper

One of my main tasks have been to digitise The Rachde Kronikul to make the editions accessible to the public, not only for others to view but also to protect the newspapers as they are in poor condition due to age, overuse and as newspaper is cheap but full of acid, it quickly becomes brittle and yellowed over time. Descriptions were then added to help make the items searchable and accessible for those who want to view or research it.

I’ve been blessed with a terminally delightful Rochdalian accent, I have a conflicting relationship with my accent, and it’s brought me much pride being able to work on the Chronicle alongside promoting the usage of Archives and hone my own knowledge on Rochdale’s radical co-operative history.

Georgia performing at the History Lab open mic night, Nov 2025

The newspapers are of importance to those interested in the development of the co-op movement, radical newspapers and dialect writing and contains articles on parliament reform of the time, social reform and included poems and creative writing and can now be viewed as a flipbook with a link on the Co-operative Heritage Trust website. There is also a overview of articles for each page. We are also hopeful that the articles can be fully transcribed and welcome those who wish to do so.