[1] Carpenter was influenced by Henry Hyndman's book England for All, and struck up a friendship with William Morris.
He initially intended the Society to become the first regional branch of the Social Democratic Federation (SDF), but this idea was abandoned when the Socialist League, led by Morris, split from the SDF, and the Society remained unaffiliated to any national current.
Initially, the Society grew, with new members including Raymond Unwin[1] and John O'Dwyer Creaghe.
[2] Regular disturbances forced the Society to close its café, upon which it launched a successful campaign to increase the relief paid by the Poor Law Commissioners.
Following their own policy led to them losing their building, however, and a decline set in as the group failed to respond to rising trade union militancy.