Rowntree Family
Joseph Rowntree (1836-1925), was the son of another Joseph (1801-1859) who was a grocer in York, and his wife, Sarah. Starting out as an apprentice in the shop, the younger Joseph went into partnership with his brother Henry Isaac at the struggling cocoa factory in 1869. In the course of his own lifetime, he turned Rowntree’s into one the most famous chocolate factories in England.
Joseph married twice - first to Julia Seebohm, who died in 1863 soon after giving birth to their only child (Lilley, who died six years later), and then in 1867 to Emma Antoinette Seebohm (known as Antoinette and, to the family, as Tonie). Antoinette died in 1924, shortly before Joseph.
They had six children, one of whom was Seebohm Rowntree (1871-1954) whose studies of poverty in York at the turn of the century helped to shape the welfare state formed after the Second World War.
Amongst other members of this extraordinary family, we should also note Arnold Rowntree (1872-1951), Joseph's nephew, who was for many years Liberal Member of Parliament for York, voted out in 1918 because of his anti-war stance.
You can find a Rowntree family tree here.