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Commemorating Orbiston in Strathclyde Park, the plaque reads
"The Babylon Community, Orbiston (1825-1828)
The first experiment in communal living in Britain" |
Since the beginning of civilisation, men have repeatedly
attempted to build better societies than the ones they have known. The
industrial revolution had changed both the prospects and livelihoods of the
majority of workers, and rather than increasing their opportunities, they had
led to greater uncertainties. The earliest communitarian movements attempted to
transform this by forming religious and secular communities with participatory governments
and to produce an equilibrium between the private and common ownership of
property and work.
The word ‘socialism’ originates with the followers of Robert
Owen who is still popularly regarded as “the father of British socialism”. It
is not always remembered, however, that the socialism he advocated was
co-operative or community socialism. Owen did not think along the lines of the
later socialists. His approach was basically apolitical and he rejected the
notion of class struggle as a means of social change. Instead, he believed in
communitarianism as a method of social reform. Society, he argued, was to be
radically transformed by means of experimental communities, villages of
cooperation, and this he regarded as a valid alternative to other methods of
effecting change, such as revolution or legislation. The foundation of
communities was not a series of more-or-less accidental happenings, but the
attempt to put into practice a coherent theory of social change. One such
project was a Orbiston, later nicknamed Babylon by the locals, near Motherwell
and not too far from the reknown New Lanark site. Owen subscribed £10,000, but
ultimately withdrew from the scheme because of differences of opinion with
other promoters. Instead Owen himself commenced another at New Harmony, in
Indiana, America which is surprisingly better known than the Scottish attempt.
A proposal by the British and Foreign
Philanthropic Society for the first Owenite Community begn with the purchase of
600 acres of land, owned by Hamilton of Dalzell for the community. After 3 years
of inactivity the Motherwell community never came into existence and the scheme
was overtaken and in its place, in 1825, Archibald Hamilton and Abram Combe
founded a community near Bellshill at Orbiston, the estate of Hamilton’s father.
Abram Combe was born in Edinburgh on 15 January 1775. In
1826, Combe's health began to fail; he suffered from a serious lung disease,
which killed him on 19 September 1827 (11th or 27th
of August according to other sources).
His death spelled the end of the Orbiston co-operative. In 1820, Combe met
Robert Owen and visited his co-operative community at New Lanark. Combe, a
tanner by trade, was quickly converted to the cause of co-operation and became
an advocate of Owen's principles. He wrote ‘Metaphorical Sketches of the Old
and New Systems’ (1823), a critique of competition and exposition of
co-operation. Combe influenced the Ricardian socialist economist John Gray, who
paid tribute to him in an appendix of his book The Social System (1831). In Edinburgh, Leather Workers Community was a
short-lived community experiment set up in Combe's Edinburgh Tanyard - the
leather workers lived communally and operated a profit sharing scheme. The
Practical Society was a co-operative venture set up in 1821 by Archibald James
Hamilton in partnership with Abram Combe. The Society aimed to improve the
lives of members and opened a store for the sale of goods to 500 families. A
school was established and members were required to sign a pledge to abstain
from drink, tobacco and swearing. At first successful, the Practical Society
foundered within a year when the storekeeper appropriated Society funds.
Hamilton and Combe proceeded with plans for a grander, co-operative experiment
at Orbiston. Archibald James Hamilton (1793-1834) was the eldest son of General
John Hamilton, 11th of Orbiston and 6th of Dalzell. Archibald was an idealist
and social reformer, and was chiefly responsible for the establishment of an
experimental socialistic community on Orbiston Estate. Hamilton's prospectus for
establishing a socialistic community at Orbiston was based on Robert Owen's
"Report to the County of Lanark of a plan to relieve distress etc ",
1820. Owen's report had been rejected by Parliament as too idealistic, but
Hamilton was determined to pursue his dream of creating a community in which
"the poor and working classes .. provide themselves…with the necessaries
and comforts of life." His prospectus invited wealthy individuals to apply
for shares in the Orbiston Community. Share-holders would form a company and
could expect in return "full interest and the satisfaction of seeing
poverty, and ignorance disappear from their neighbourhood." Funds for the
project were not initially forthcoming, and it was left to Hamilton and Abram
Combe to bring the project to fruition.
Orbiston Community
The Orbiston Community, dreamt of introducing a new social
order to the world and was situated on 290 acres of land. Separate from Owen,
Combe purchased land in cooperation with John Hamilton with the help of a bond
issued by a joint-stock company, The Orbiston Company. The community did not
see the immediate success that had taken place at New Lanark, nor did it
predicate its existence on that model. In fact, Owen did not learn of its
existence until months after the community was founded. Orbiston was built
around the ideals of liberty, security, and knowledge. Combe was to instill
this in the membership from the beginning. The commune was constructed around a
series of community buildings at its center along a running stream, with a
school being central to this plan. As with Owen, Combe tied the idea of
education to personal and economic advancement. The main building consisted of
a large center building with two wings for living quarters, containing some 120
private rooms. The community also included a theater for cultural advancement,
a foundry and forge, and a press for printing its newspaper, The Register.
Everything was whitewashed with blue slate roofs. The pearl white community was
surrounded by scenic hills and had the appearance of utopia, even if it may not
have reached that goal. Combe would work himself to sickness to see its
success.
Orbiston was built to earlier plans though with
modifications. The main building resembled the design advocated earlier in Relief
for the Poor and the Report to Lanark. A classically styled central block
(somewhat akin to both the Institute and Mill No. 3 at New Lanark) was to be
four storeys high and be intended for community use. It would house the
kitchens, dining rooms (to accommodate up to 800 persons), drawing rooms, ball
room, lecture hall and library. The vast symmetrical L-shaped wings on either
side were to provide private living quarters for the communitarians, with
Orbiston was therefore built to earlier plans though with modifications. The
last consisted mainly of workers who had fallen victim to the on-going slump
following the end of the wars, particularly a group of hand-loom weavers,
casualties of mechanisation. As in the original scheme the poor and unemployed were
being assisted much as Owen intended. Among the educationists were Catherine
Whitwell, and, for a time, Joseph Applegarth, another Owenite teacher, who
later participated in the New Harmony community. Economic foundations, in
common with the majority of the Owenite communities, were shaky, though as the
design suggests, considerable thought had been given to the social and
educational aspects of life.
290 members of the community nicknamed 'Babylon' worked as
weavers, blacksmiths, joiners, cabinet makers, wheelwrights, printers,
painters, shoemakers, tailors, seamstresses and harness-makers. They ran a
successful iron-foundery on the 291 acre site that included a 5 storey main
communal building, school, apartments & communal dining facilities. 75 acres
of the land was cultivated with vegetable garden & orchard. The land being
manured with waste from the community sewage system.
Orbiston community
never became truly solvent and survived precariously as it constantly ran short
of capital due to the little success it had in production and manufacturing in
all areas of endeavor. This had to do with some of the inhabitants it initially
attracted, more than a few of which were unsuited for the hard work and others
who were idlers by nature. Locals came to call the place “Babylon” referring to
the collection of rabble that flocked to the community from the surrounding
area. The community spent its second year ridding itself of these and
consolidating its membership around those that truly wanted to work toward the
commune’s success. Orbiston’s internal government was a further trouble as the
members were divided over the operation of the community. The division of
income also became a matter of contention as well. The community originally was
founded on a system of individual reward for labour, with economic equality to
follow later. By integrating agriculture and industrial manufacturing it was
believed that this would encourage outside capitalists to invest in the
venture. When this did not materialize, the community was hard pressed to survive
on its own capitalization.
Abram Combe produced a newsletter "The Register",
which reported on progress being made within the community as well as on
lectures, plays and other events organised for the edification of Society
members. The first edition of the Register was issued on 10 November 1825.
Abram Combe wrote of his perplexity at the pessimistic views on the commune's
viability being expressed by two Orbiston Company members, who opposed moves to
transfer proprietorship of the commune to the tenants, believing that the
members were not up to the task. Combe was confident that a restructure of the
community into departments was showing signs of success and that an audit of
accounts for each department would produce a favourable outcome. Combe
disapproved of the thoroughly communistic principles which were adopted in
September 1826, after the scheme had been at work for a year. 1827 had begun as
a period of hope and renewal at the Orbiston Community. The old payment system
had been replaced by one of total communism: communal ownership of property,
and equal distribution of wealth. The division of the community into 6
departments or companies was showing signs of success. Weavers were
manufacturing cotton for shirts, trousers and jackets. Bookbinders and printers
were gainfully employed, and the foundry and horticultural departments were
planning to provide goods for the Glasgow market.
The community could satisfy certain personal goals,
particularly of people who were in some way social misfits. It offered a
solution to problems of personal deficiency or social maladjustment, and had an
obvious appeal to those who sought security or escape from the world. Communities
such as Orbiston collected their share of such types. Combe’s views of the earliest members of
Orbiston were recorded in the Orbiston Register of 19th August 1827:
“A worse selection of individuals, men, women and children,
could scarcely have been made — a population made up for the most part of the
worst part of Society. The adults were steeped in poverty ; lazy, dirty and
thriftless : the smell of tobacco in almost every house, and a dunghill
beginning to rise under almost every window. The children and youths were no
better ; they were quarrelsome, unmannerly”
It is clear that Combe believed that the poor folk seeking
refuge at Orbiston were fleeing the designs and misery of the Old System,
“rather than to seek the advantages of the New.”
The death of Combe in 1827, the single point of commonality
for the community was lost and signalled the beginning of the end for the
socialistic community at Orbiston. With the loss of Combe came a loss of
direction. Funding for the community was becoming scarce. Pressure for
repayment of a loan forced William Combe to announce the abandonment of the
bold social experiment in December 1827. In November 1828, Thomas Lawrie from
Edinburgh compiled a report on behalf of General John Hamilton advising on the
value of the lands, and on the best method of dividing the estate for a
sell-off. The proprietors soon suspended all further proceedings and disposed
of the property after two years and the buildings were pulled down. The demise
of the community at Orbiston was attributed more to a lack of interest and
desire by its residents in its success, than to its economic failure. More to
the truth was its problem with under capitalization. Profits could not overcome
the community’s early over expenditures. At least one of Orbiston’s investors
was placed in “debtors prison” for advances made to the community, and this
fact cannot be discounted as a detriment to future undertakings.
The last remnants of the "Orbiston Community"
experiment in social reform can be found in Strathclyde Park, North
Lanarkshire; close to the park's Visitor Centre on the Bellshill side of the
park. Stone pillars or Key Stones mark a spot near where the Orbiston Community
was sited. Known locally as "New Babylon" on account of the
unorthodox views and behaviour of residents, the lands and buildings of the
Orbiston Community were sold on 7 December 1830, bought by Mrs Douglas, a local
landowner who ordered all trace of the community to be removed. A housing
estate now covers part of the site and the community is remembered in street
names such as Babylon Rd., Community Rd., Hamilcombe Rd. and Register Avenue.
The Influence
Pioneer socialist, John Gray, published a criticism of Combe's experiment, entitled:
A Word of Advice to the Orbistonians, on the Principles Which Ought to Regulate
their Present Proceedings. The co-operative, anti-capitalist nature of Owen's
New System created tension between the administrators and the communitarian's
themselves. And, although various trade persons and artisans were initially
attracted to Orbiston, the community itself could not generate enough wealth to
permit complete autarky and it began to borrow in order to remain buoyant.
Internal factionalism and animosity began to tear Orbiston apart. His death
marked the end of the scheme; the buildings were pulled down in 1828. Still,
Orbiston came closer to success than some later communities would. But Robert
Owen appeared blind to the eminent failure of Orbiston and in 1828 he wrote:
“It will gratify you to learn that the good cause is
progressing substantially in all countries, and that your exertions, although
not crowned with immediate success at Orbiston, have contributed essentially to
make the principles known, and to prepare the way for their practice in many
places.”
Some previously involved in the Orbiston project later
become active in the trade union and Chartist movements, but most slipped back
into what Owen had termed the Old Order.
Henry Jones, who was to become founder of Canada’s only
Owenite community and perhaps the earliest avowed socialist in British North
America, came to Scotland that year making
a loan of £5,000 (approximately a third of his assets) towards its funds that
was given to Hamilton Jones was already sufficiently involved in the Owenite
movement to become a member of the society’s committee and became one of its
auditors. In the summer of 1826, when
Combe had to leave Orbiston temporarily because of illness, Jones took charge
of it. But by 1827 the difficulties caused by the poor selection of members had
made him apprehensive of its future. In a letter of 23 March he broached to
Hamilton the matter of a return of his loan to the Motherwell community and
accused him of an “Aristocracy of decision” in his “pronunciation respecting
the identity of the friends of the New Views, – and the proper understanding of
the principles of the System.” Nevertheless, Jones continued, “We may go on,
separately, to exert ourselves in what we believe will best advance the object
which we profess to have in view, and where we can, conjointly.” His
forebodings were justified when the Orbiston community came to an end after
Combe’s death in August. In later years the loan was to prove the cause of
litigation that would consume much of Jones’s time and energy. Archibald James
Hamilton had died in 1834 and for several years Jones was involved in complex
litigation to get back from Hamilton’s estate the money he had advanced to the
Motherwell community.
In 1827 Jones sailed to New York and travelled, mostly by
water, to Lake Huron, where Jones found suitable land for a new cooperative community
in Upper Canada near the mouth of Perch Creek, about 10 miles northeast of
present-day Sarnia. Jones returned to Britain later that year. In 1828 he
gathered together a group of settlers from the Glasgow area… the community,
which he called Maxwell, reputedly after Robert Owen’s residence at New Lanark,
Scotland. He hoped eventually to settle between 50 and 100 families. The first
contingent of 20 people, which arrived early in 1829 accompanied by a surgeon,
consisted mostly of former members of the Orbiston community, almost all of
whom were Lowland Scots and unemployed hand-loom weavers. A log building was
erected that year with Orbiston as a model, for there were individual family
apartments and common kitchens and dining-rooms. A contemporary sketch shows
the building, not entirely completed, occupying three sides of a rectangular
green; there is a central, two-story block and the wings are single-storeyed.
Jones also established a store and a school on Owenite principles.
In 1834 on 17 May after Jones had left on a trip to England
and Scotland a fire started in the community house and, as Henry John Jones,
his son, recorded, “in less than an hour Maxwell had disappeared – the greater
part of the books and light furniture was saved.” The few people remaining in
the community after the fire lived in the barn and above the stables until a
new building was erected. Jones returned to Upper Canada some time after July
1843, he may have partly shed his Owenism and may have largely remained immune
from phalansterianism. In 1840, after Owen’s presentation to Queen Victoria had
resulted in vigorous criticism of his principles, Henry John Jones had noted
that his father seemed “a little ashamed of ‘Socialism.’” He nevertheless
appears to have remained a utopian thinker and planner and, in the sense of
desiring a social change in the direction of voluntary association apart from
the state, a kind of libertarian socialist. Henry John Jones, remarked in 1839,
that his father became “further gone in Socialism than ever.” He bombarded his
reluctant relatives in Canada with letters suggesting that they should form a
kind of “family community” with the few settlers who remained at Maxwell. He
talked “of bringing out another ragged regiment to form a community in case his
own family shd fail to come to terms.” Jones’s days of activity ended. He found
that the few people at Maxwell who remained from the original settlement had
established their own households and had no interest in forming a new
community. The family home at Maxwell had been burnt down in 1839 but was
rebuilt in 1842 and there Jones lived the rest of his life. Nobody in Canada
was influenced by his utopian ideas,
Conclusions
A study of Orbitson reveals the following:
The creation of a new community is likely to attract those
who seek an immediate escape from the old order and interests are liable to
conflict. And of course there can be no islands of socialism in an ocean of capitalism. The rules of finance still rule.
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