Marking 100 years since the passing of Joseph Rowntree, learn more

Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree

Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree, Joseph’s second son, was a director of Rowntree & Co Ltd and chairman from 1923 to 1941, succeeding Joseph. He was an innovator in business management,industrial democracy and a champion of the poor, the unemployed and the homeless. He developed and furthered the ideas and vision of his father. Seebohm was very interested in personal relationships in industry and wrote about them in several publications. It was under his stewardship of the company that Rowntrees directly engaged in marketing their products, about which Joseph had been suspicious as he felt it led to false claims. Brands including Black Magic, KitKat and Smarties were introduced during the 1930s. His work in social reform led to Seebohm becoming an adviser to Prime Minister David Lloyd George and an architect of the welfare state, thus playing a key role in developing social policy in the early twentieth century. He put the statistical acumen he had inherited to good use in his poverty studies of York.

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Our work is enabled by grant funding from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, and the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust. If you would like to make a financial donation to further support our work, it is easy to pay online (with or without Gift Aid) by clicking the link below. You can get in touch with us about other ways of giving via info@rowntreesociety.org.uk

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Apprenticeship

Joseph Rowntree joined his father’s grocery business as an apprentice in 1852 at the age of 15. The apprenticeship would last for six years and was underpinned by strong Quaker principles and practices. The work was demanding but Joseph Senior maintained a family atmosphere in the shop. For two years Joseph worked alongside George Cadbury, who was an apprentice and assistant before he later took control of the Cadbury cocoa factory in Birmingham. Joseph also worked at a large wholesale grocer’s in London to gain wider experience. His apprenticeship was a formative influence in Joseph’s life, particularly in his approach to business. He became a partner in the family grocery shop aged 21. Joseph is seated in the middle of the front row with George Cadbury at front left.

Support Us

Our work is enabled by grant funding from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, and the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust. If you would like to make a financial donation to further support our work, it is easy to pay online (with or without Gift Aid) by clicking the link below. You can get in touch with us about other ways of giving via info@rowntreesociety.org.uk

Donate