Robert Alexander Palmer, 1st Baron Rusholme (29 November 1890 – 18 August 1977) was a senior official of the

British co-operative movement The United Kingdom is home to a widespread and diverse co-operative movement, with over 7000 registered co-operatives owned by 17 million individual members and which contribute £34bn a year to the British economy. Modern co-operation started wit ...

and a

Labour Co-operative Labour and Co-operative Party (often abbreviated Labour Co-op; cy, Llafur a'r Blaid Gydweithredol) is a description used by candidates in United Kingdom elections who stand on behalf of both the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party. Candidat ...

member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

Career

Born in November 1890, Palmer left school at the age of 14. By the age of 21 he was a director of the Manchester and Salford Co-operative Society, the largest

consumer co-operative A consumers' co-operative is an enterprise owned by consumers and managed democratically and that aims at fulfilling the needs and aspirations of its members. Such co-operatives operate within the market system, independently of the state, as a f ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he served with the

Manchester Regiment The Manchester Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1958. The regiment was created during the 1881 Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 63rd (West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot and the 96th ...

(

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry ...

) in

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and

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, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 30 October 1918. At the age of 30, Palmer was appointed Cashier and Financial Adviser of the Co-operative Union, the trade body of the consumer co-operative movement. In 1929 he became the body's general secretary. He continued in the role until 1947. He also became President of the International Co-operative Alliance. In 1945 Palmer was raised to the peerage as Baron Rusholme, of Rusholme in the City of Manchester, becoming the first Co-operative peer among the

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

ranks. He joined the

British Transport Commission The British Transport Commission (BTC) was created by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government as a part of its nationalisation programme, to oversee railways, canals and road freight transport in Great Britain (Northern Ireland had the se ...

in 1947, serving until 1959, and chaired the London Midland Area Board of British Railways from 1955 to 1960.

Personal life

Lord Rusholme died in August 1977, aged 86, when the barony became extinct.

References

*Lord Graham of Edmonton, 'A proud legacy', ''

The Co-operative News ''Co-op News'' is a UK-based monthly news magazine and website for the global co-operative movement. First published in Manchester in 1871 as ''The Co-operative News'', the paper is the world's oldest co-operative newspaper. Originally a weekly ...

'', 29 April-13 May 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Rusholme, Robert Alexander Palmer, 1st Baron 1890 births 1977 deaths Labour Co-operative hereditary peers British Army personnel of World War I Manchester Regiment soldiers Manchester Regiment officers Barons created by George VI Military personnel from Manchester