However, after several years of good progress, the Society went into voluntary liquidation in March 1874.
A new society was formed in 1887, established at 85 Chelsham Road, South Croydon.
It was beset by inefficiency and poor practice, and competition from the rival Co-operative Coal Society operating from 1895 to 1902, registered in Northbrook Road.
Key figures in the Croydon Society included Charles Bailey and Albert Gore.
Gore served on the board of Croydon and South Suburban for most of the period from the 1890s until 1945, and was a councillor in the town also.