 Born in Stockport, Cheshire, Sam Perry began his education with a scholarship at the Stockport Grammar School but was forced to give up school at the age of ten when his father died, becoming a cotton spinner like his father.He became involved in the local co-operative movement with the Stockport Co-operative Society then Birkenhead and on the creation of the Co-operative Party in 1917 was appointed its first national secretary.Appointment as the senior official in the Party brought Perry to London with nine-year-old Fred.