Robert Owen was one of the most influential thinkers and social reformers of the industrial revolution. The Robert Owen Museum in Newtown, Powys houses a collection of objects, pictures and written material relating to the life of Robert Owen. The Museum was founded in 1929. It tells Owen’s story and is in the centre of Newtown just a few feet from where Owen was born. From humble origins and with little formal education, Owen used his self-made fortune to campaign for improved working conditions and free, universal education. Owen had an international reputation reflected in the W. F. Dalton oil painting which, using famous images, puts Owen in the company of other great reformers such as George Washington, Thomas Paine and Voltaire. Owen inspired the world-wide co-operative movement and has had an impact on political thought from socialism to the Big Society.