Tuke family

The Tukes were a very important Quaker family in the history of chocolate in York and in the wider context of social reform and philanthropy.

Mary Tuke set up a shop in Walmgate, York, which is arguably the beginning of the Rowntree factory.

William Tuke (1732-1822), along with his son, Henry (1755-1814), and grandson, Samuel (1784-1857), were instrumental in the development of a more humane alternative to the brutal insane asylums of the day, setting up The Retreat, and spreading its methods around the world.