Robert Owen (1771-1858)

Philanthropist

Robert Owen was born in Wales on 14 May 1771. He was apprenticed to a cloth merchant before working in retail, machine-manufacturing and as manager of a mill. In 1798 he visited the New Lanark Mills founded by his future father-in-law, David Dale. In 1799 he took over and became famous for his pioneering work on employee welfare and improvements in productivity. He called for a system of national education and reductions in working-hours, purchased the township of New Harmony in the USA for a new type of community (which later failed) and inspired others to set up co-operative societies. In 1835 he founded the Rational Society with branches that organised local lectures and events. He died on 17 November 1858 at his birth-place and was buried there. New Lanark is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Marriage in 1799

Robert Owen, New Lanark, and Anne Carolina Dale, Glasgow, were proclaimed on the 29th September for the first and last time. The entry in the Old Parish Register (OPR) for Lanark  is on a page headed 1799.

Proclamation entry for Robert Owen in the OPR for Lanark (24 KB jpeg)
National Records of Scotland, 648/5, page 114

There is another entry in the Old Parish Register for Glasgow dated 29 September 1799. Robert Owen, Manufacturer in New Lanark, and Ann Carolina Dale, LD (lawful daughter) of David Dale, merchant in Glasgow, married on 30 September 1799. The OPR entry records that they were married by Robert Balfour, one of the ministers of Glasgow.

Marriage entry for Robert Owen (20 KB jpeg)
National Records of Scotland, OPR 644-1/27, page 278