Francis (Frank) Henry Rowntree (1868-1918)
Francis (Frank) Henry Rowntree (1868-1918) was a nephew of Joseph Rowntree and son of Henry Isaac Rowntree. He was apprenticed to ‘Joseph Baker and Sons’ in Willesden – a hugely successful engineering firm run by Quakers. They had an international reputation for making machines to support the food industry – especially the automation of baking. See further http://www.bphs.net/groupfacilities/j/josephbakerandsons/index.htm
After his apprenticeship, Frank returned to York and joined the Cocoa Works. However, the Rowntree connection with the Baker family remained strong. At the outbreak of WW1, Joseph Baker’s son, Philip John Noel-Baker was instrumental in establishing the Friends’ Ambulance Unit, working alongside Arnold Rowntree amongst others.
In 1897, Frank married Emily Maud Wilkinson (1872 – 1944), daughter of Edward & Mary Anne Towler Wilkinson. Frank and Emily had four daughters, Friede, Maud, Faith Stainton and Nora.
Frank Rowntree was the founder of the York branch of the Fabian Society in 1908. He was a keen fisherman and a member of the York Philosophical Society. The 1911 census records Frank and Emily living at Haverford with a cook, housemaid and under-housemaid.
He died at 49, on 23rd February 1918.