Joseph Rowntree (24 May 1836 – 24 February 1925) was an English Quaker philanthropist and businessman from

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 ...

. Rowntree is perhaps best known for being a champion of social reform, partner and friend of Charles Booth, and his time as a

chocolatier A chocolatier is a person or company who makes confectionery from chocolate. Chocolatiers are distinct from chocolate makers, who create chocolate from cacao beans and other ingredients. Education and training Traditionally, chocolatiers, ...

at family business ''

Rowntree's Rowntree's is a British confectionery brand and former business based in York, England. Rowntree developed the Kit Kat (introduced in 1935), Aero (introduced in 1935), Fruit Pastilles (introduced in 1881), Smarties (introduced in 1937) brands ...

'', one of the most important in Britain. Even as a powerful businessman, he was deeply interested in improving the

quality of life Quality of life (QOL) is defined by the World Health Organization as "an individual's perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards ...

of his employees; this led to him becoming a philanthropist, pursuing many charitable causes. In 1904 he created three trusts, the Joseph Rowntree Village Trust (JRVT) which was originally set up to build and manage the garden village of New Earswick, the

Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) is a philanthropic grant making trust that supports work undertaken in the UK and Ireland, and previously South Africa. It is one of three original trusts set up by Joseph Rowntree in 1904. The Trust ...

(JRCT) and the Joseph Rowntree Social Services Trust (JRSST). He suggested that only the JRVT would be permanent but all the trusts are still in existence although the Social Services Trust has changed its name to the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust and with the separation of the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust from the Village Trust in 1968, there are now four trusts that exist today.

Early life

Rowntree was born the son of Sarah and Joseph Rowntree, on Pavement (the name of a street) in York where his father owned a grocer's shop. He attended

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 ...

. At fourteen he accompanied his father on a visit to Ireland, and witnessed the effects of the Great Famine.Joseph Rowntree Biography
– '' The Joseph Rowntree Foundation'' 2004 This experience was to provide the grounding for his political views and business ideas later in life.

Career

He started working in his father's grocery business as an apprentice the following year, and after his father's death in 1859 he took over the running, jointly managing the business with his brother

John Stephenson Rowntree John Stephenson Rowntree (2 May 1834 – 13 April 1907) was a Director of Rowntree's, the York confectionery company and a reformer of the Quaker movement in the United Kingdom. He was the eldest son of Joseph Rowntree (1801 – 1859) an ...

. In 1869 he joined his brother, Henry Isaac Rowntree, who owned a chocolate factory in York. When Henry Isaac died in 1883, Joseph became the owner of the company. Joseph pursued his progressive ideas within the running of

, in the design of the new factory opened in 1881, and in the business practices followed therein, including the founding of one of the first Occupational Pension Schemes. The company,

, grew from 30 to over 4,000 employees by the end of the 19th century making it Britain's eightieth largest manufacturing employer. It merged with John Mackintosh and Co. in 1969 and was taken over by

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since ...

in 1988. He had two marriages, to Julia Eliza Seebohm in 1862 who died in 1863, and then to her cousin Emma Antoinette Seebohm in 1867 with whom he had six children.Joseph Rowntree Biography
– ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' The social investigator

Seebohm Rowntree Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree, CH (7 July 1871 – 7 October 1954) was an English sociological researcher, social reformer and industrialist. He is known in particular for his three York studies of poverty conducted in 1899, 1935, and 1951. The fi ...

was one of their children. Joseph Rowntree's grave, along with many other members of his family, can be seen in the Quaker cemetery within the grounds of The Retreat on Heslington Road,

. Philosophical and political views: Joseph Rowntree was a supporter of liberal values, and was anxious to improve the quality of life of his employees. He provided them with a library, free education, a works magazine, a social welfare officer, a doctor, a dentist and a pension fund.

The Joseph Rowntree School

The Joseph Rowntree School was built in York in 1942 by the Joseph Rowntree Village Trust. In 2010 the school relocated to new premises costing £29 million. Students refer to it as "Joro".

The Joseph Rowntree statue campaign

A campaign was started in summer 2012 to put a statue of Joseph Rowntree at a prominent site in the centre of York, with a

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

page – "A Joseph Rowntree statue for York City Centre" – that stated: "York should be proud of its greatest son! This campaign aims to place a statue of Joseph Rowntree, philanthropist, social reformer, and chocolatier, in Parliament Square, York, on the site of the repulsed and now-demolished toilet block."Kate Liptrot
"Campaign for statue of Joseph Rowntree on former “splash palace” site in York"
''The Press'', 21 August 2012.

References

External links

Joseph Rowntree
on The Rowntree Society

on Spartacus Educational
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Joseph Rowntree School
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowntree, Joseph Rowntree's 1836 births 1925 deaths People educated at Bootham School English philanthropists English Quakers Joseph Rowntree Burials in North Yorkshire British social reformers People from York