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New Lanark, New Society |
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After New Lanark:
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By 1827, Owen felt he had gone as far as he could in New Lanark and he sold the business to a like-minded consortium of businessmen. But he had not abandoned his ideas of changing society. In 1825, he had decided to start a commune in America, and purchased land in Indiana for £30,000, where his utopian community, named New Harmony, would take shape. His four sons and one of his daughters, moved to New Harmony permanently. Owen however, remained in Britain, using his wealth to assist various reform groups, including factory reformers, the Chartists and the embryonic trade union movement. In his absence, however, things did not go well at New Harmony, with the commune splitting into factions and the site eventually being abandoned as the leading members left to pursue their own agendas. Despite the failure of New Harmony, and his own aborted attempt to found a commune in Hampshire, Owen continued striving for change until he passed away in November 1858.
The epitaph on the Owen Memorial in Kensal Green Cemetery, London reads:
"He organised infants schools. He secured the reduction of the hours of labour for women and children in factories. He was a liberal supporter of the earliest efforts to obtain national education. He laboured to promote international arbitration. He was one of the foremost Britons who taught men to aspire to a higher social state by reconciling the interests of capital and labour. He spent his life and a large fortune in seeking to improve his fellowmen by giving them education, self-reliance, and moral worth. His life was sanctified by human affection and lofty effort".
Today, the little community of New Lanark still stands as testament to one man's vision of creating a better society, and a unique experiment in social engineering, far ahead of its time.
New Lanark is a World Heritage Site cared for by the New Lanark Conservation Trust and is open to the public throughout the year.
Contacts: New Lanark World Heritage Site- South Lanarkshire
- Scotland ML11 9DB
- tel: +44 1555 661345
- fax: +44 1555 665738
- email: trust@newlanark.org
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