W. P. Watkins: Difference between revisions

'''William Pascoe Watkins''' (5 December 1893 – 2 January 1995) was an English co-operator and writer who served as director of the [[International Cooperative Alliance|International Co-operative Alliance]] from 1951 to 1963.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Marshall |first=R L |author-link=Robert L. Marshall |date=1995-01-03 |title=Will Watkins |work=[[The Guardian]] |page=28}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Shaffer |first=Jack |url=http://archive.org/details/historicaldictio0000shaf |title=Historical Dictionary of the Cooperative Movement |publisher=[[Scarecrow Press]] |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-8108-3666-2 |location=Lanham, Md. |pages=408–409 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Papers of William P. Watkins B.A. (Director of the International Co-operative Alliance 1951-1963) |url=https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/30f9ebb6-fd1b-3698-9c70-e2fad4cd4c1f |website=[[Archives Hub]] |via=}}</ref>

Watkins was born in [[Plymouth]], [[Devon]], the son of co-operator [[William Henry Watkins]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Marshall |first=R L |author-link=Robert L. Marshall |date=1995-01-03 |title=Will Watkins |work=[[The Guardian]] |page=28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/dictionaryoflabo0000unse |title=Dictionary of Labour Biography |publisher=Macmillan |year=1972 |isbn=978-0-333-42757-6 |location=London |pages=339 |chapter=Watkins, William Henry |chapter-url= |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> Watkins trained as a teacher and was awarded a degree in philosophy and economics from the [[University of London]], and served in France during the [[First World War]].<ref name=":0" />

In 1920 he began working as a tutor at the [[Co-operative College]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Shaffer |first=Jack |url=http://archive.org/details/historicaldictio0000shaf |title=Historical Dictionary of the Cooperative Movement |publisher=[[Scarecrow Press]] |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-8108-3666-2 |location=Lanham, Md. |pages=408–409 |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref> In 1929 he joined the secretariat of the International Co-operative Alliance, then from 1940 he worked in the editorial staff of the ''[[Reynold's News]].'' In 1946 he was appointed as an advisor on co-operatives to the [[Control Commission for Germany (British Element)|Control Commission for Germany]], rehabilitating the country's [[Consumers' co-operative|consumer co-operative]] movement, for which in 1959 he was awarded the [[Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany|Cross of Merit]] from the Federal Republic of Germany.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Papers of William P. Watkins B.A. (Director of the International Co-operative Alliance 1951-1963) |url=https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/30f9ebb6-fd1b-3698-9c70-e2fad4cd4c1f |website=[[Archives Hub]] |via=}}</ref> In 1951 he was appointed director of the International Co-operative Alliance, retiring in 1963.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" />