John Wilhelm Rowntree (4 September 1868 – 9 March 1905) was a chocolate and confectionery manufacturer and

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

religious activist and reformer. ODNB article by Edward H. Milligan, ‘Rowntree, John Wilhelm (1868–1905)�

accessed 20 January 2007

Life

He was born on 4 September 1868 in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, the eldest son of Joseph Rowntree (1836–1925) and his second wife, Antoinette Seebohm (1846–1924). He was educated at

Bootham School Bootham School is an independent Quaker boarding school, on Bootham in the city of York in England. It accepts boys and girls ages 3–19, and had an enrolment of 605 pupils in 2016. It is one of seven Quaker schools in England. The schoo ...

, York and Oliver's Mount School, Scarborough He was a successful businessman, vastly expanding the already successful family chocolate business. He played a large part in enabling the

Religious Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

to incorporate an understanding of modern science (such as the theory of

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

), modern

biblical criticism Biblical criticism is the use of critical analysis to understand and explain the Bible. During the eighteenth century, when it began as ''historical-biblical criticism,'' it was based on two distinguishing characteristics: (1) the concern to ...

, and the social meaning of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

's teaching into their belief systems. He helped establish

Woodbrooke Woodbrooke Study Centre is a Quaker college in Selly Oak, Birmingham, England. The only Quaker Study Centre in Europe, it was founded by George Cadbury in 1903 and occupies his former home on the Bristol Road. Woodbrooke's first Director of St ...

, the Quaker study centre in

Bournville Bournville () is a model village on the southwest side of Birmingham, England, founded by the Quaker Cadbury family for employees at its Cadbury's factory, and designed to be a "garden" (or "model") village where the sale of alcohol was forb ...

, Birmingham. He died on 9 March 1905 in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Son

His only son Lawrence was killed in action during the Great War. Originally a volunteer orderly with the Friends' Ambulance Unit at Dunkirk, he subsequently joined the British Army and fought in the first tank action at Flers–Courcelette on 15 September 1916 as a member of the crew of HMLS ''Creme-de-Menthe''. He was later commissioned into the

Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It came into being when created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of ...

and was killed on 25 November 1917 in the

Ypres Salient The Ypres Salient around Ypres in Belgium was the scene of several battles and an extremely important part of the Western front during the First World War. Ypres district Ypres lies at the junction of the Ypres–Comines Canal and the Ieperlee. ...

Publications

* A History of the Adult School Movement (with Henry Bryan Binns). 1903. * Essays and addresses. 1905. * The Lay Ministry * Man's Relation to God, and other addresses ... With life of the author (compiled by S. Elizabeth Robson from the introductions written by Joshua Rowntree to "Essays and Addresses" and "Palestine Notes" 1917) * Palestine Notes, and other papers ... Edited by Joshua Rowntree.1906. * Present Day Papers. Vol. 1 edited ... by J. W. Rowntree. (Vol. 2–5, etc., edited by J. W. Rowntree and H. B. Binns.).1898-1902.

References

External links

The Rowntree Society
People educated at Bootham School English Quakers 1868 births 1905 deaths John Wilhelm 19th-century British philanthropists People from York 19th-century English businesspeople {{Quaker-stub