Tessa and Jean Rowntree

Tessa (christened Elizabeth) and Jean Rowntree were Joseph’s great-niece and granddaughter respectively and both were influenced by Joseph’s views on human rights. Tessa invited Jean to Prague where they assisted Czech refugees trying to escape the Nazi onslaught in the lead up to the Second World War, often at great risk to themselves. Tessa married into the Cadbury family after the war and moved to the United States. Jean had a long and successful career at the BBC where she used broadcasting to promote adult education. She was the first head of the corporation’s further education unit and was instrumental in the foundation of the Open University. Jean inherited her grandfather’s love of nature and of travel. Jean’s travel diaries covering her extensive travels in Jamaica and America in 1920 are held at the Borthwick Institute and were researched by a Rowntree Society intern in 2023.