the legislation that applied to co-operative societies at the time did not allow them to invest in other co-operatives or to set up 'secondary co-operatives' and these meetings were followed by two years of campaigning until the law was changed. the North of England Co-operative wholesale society was formed in1863 with William Cooper,Jame Smithies and Abraham Greenwood from the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society as part of ther first committee.it later shortened its name to Co-operative Wholesale Society and was usually known as CWS.