George Cadbury

George Cadbury
George Cadbury, aged 78
Born	19 September 1839 Edgbaston, Birmingham, Warwickshire, England
Died	24 October 1922(1922-10-24) (aged 83) Northfield Manor House, Birmingham, Warwickshire, England
Occupation	Founder of Cadbury's
Spouse(s)	Mary Tylor ​ ​ (m. 1872; died 1887)​ Elizabeth Taylor ​ ​ (m. 1888)​
Children	11, including: Edward Cadbury Egbert Cadbury Marion Greeves
Relatives	Richard Cadbury (brother)

Bronze bust at Friends meeting house, Bournville

George Cadbury (19 September 1839 – 24 October 1922) was the third son of John Cadbury, a Quaker who founded Cadbury's cocoa and chocolate company in Britain. He was the husband of Dame Elizabeth Cadbury.

Background

He worked at the school for adults on Sundays for no pay, despite only going to school himself until he was fifteen. Together with his brother Richard he took over the family business in 1861 and founded the chocolate producer Cadbury Brothers. In 1878 they acquired 14 acres (57,000 m²) of land in open country, four miles (6 km) south-west of Birmingham, where they opened a new factory in 1879. He rented 'Woodbrooke' – a Georgian style mansion built by Josiah Mason, which he eventually bought in 1881. On this site, he founded in 1903 a Quaker higher educational institution for social-service oriented education – an institution that still functions as the Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre.

In the early 20th century, he and John Wilhelm Rowntree established a Quaker study centre in the building, and it remains the only such centre in Europe today, offering short educational courses on spiritual and social matters to Quakers and others. He also created a hospital in Normandy called "l'hopital de Normandy".

The Cadbury brothers were concerned with the quality of life of their employees and provided an alternative to grimy city life. As more land was acquired and the brothers moved the factory to a new country location, they decided to build a factory town (designed by architect William Alexander Harvey), which was not exclusive to the employees of the factory. This village became known as Bournville after the nearby river and French word for "town". The houses were never privately owned, and their value stayed low and affordable. Bournville was a marked change from the poor living conditions of the urban environment. Here, families had houses with yards, gardens, and fresh air. To the present, the town offers affordable housing.

The brothers cared for their employees; they both believed in the social rights of the workers and hence they installed canteens and sport grounds. Nineteen years after brother Richard died, George opened a works committee for each gender which discussed proposals for improving the firm. He also pressed ahead with other ideas, like an annuity, a deposit account and education facilities for every employee.

In 1901, disgusted by the imperialistic policy of the Balfour government and opposed to the Boer War, Cadbury bought the Daily News and used the paper to campaign for old age pensions and against the war and sweatshop labour.

George Cadbury was one of the prime movers in setting up The Birmingham Civic Society in 1918. Cadbury donated the Lickey Hills Country Park to the people of Birmingham. He also donated a large house in Northfield to the Birmingham Cripples Union that was used as a hospital from 1909. It is now called the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital.

He died at his home, Northfield Manor House, on 24 October 1922, aged 83.

Family life

George Cadbury married twice. In London, Middlesex, on 14 March 1872 he married Mary Tylor (Stamford Hill, London, Middlesex, March 1849 - Newton Abbot, Devon, June 1887), daughter of Quaker author Charles Tylor and wife Gulielma Maria Sparks. She was the mother of George Jr, Mary Isabel, Edward, Henry, and Eleanor Cadbury.

In Peckham Rye, Southwark, London, Middlesex, on 19 June 1888 he married Elizabeth Mary Taylor. They had six children together: Laurence John, George Norman, Elsie Dorothea, Egbert, Marion Janet, and Ursula.

His son George Cadbury Jr. (Edgbaston, Birmingham, West Midlands, June 1878 - 1954) married in Stafford, Staffordshire, 1 January 1902) Edith Caroline Woodall (Stafford, Staffordshire, September 1876 - 1935), daughter of William Woodall (Mardol Head, Shrewsbury, 7 January 1844 - Stafford, Staffordshire, 18 January 1900), master draper, and wife (13 July 1869) Caroline Tanner (Shrewsbury, 17 January 1842 - Stafford, Staffordshire, 25 August 1930), paternal granddaughter of John Woodall (Mardol Head, Shrewsbury, 25 June 1807 - Atcham, Shropshire, 4 February 1892), master clothier, draper (son of John Woodall and wife Martha Harris) and wife (25 June 1830) Elizabeth Whitridge (Oswestry, Shropshire, 19 March 1802 - Ravenscroft, Shrewsbury, 10 January 1883) (daughter of Rev. John Whitridge and wife Elizabeth Phillips) and maternal granddaughter of John Tanner and wife Emma .... Their son John Christopher Cadbury (1908/1909 - 25 June 1995), married secondly to Elizabeth "Betty" Hone, married firstly in Birmingham, West Midlands, in April / June 1934 Honor Mary Milward (Edgbaston, Warwickshire, January / March 1909 - 1957), natural daughter of Elinor Mary Milward, born in 1879, and their son Peter Hugh George Cadbury, born on 8 June 1943, married in 1969 Sally Strouvelle, daughter of Peter Frederick Strouvelle (Hove, Sussex, April / June 1920), general manufacturing manager of CESCO of East London, South Africa, and wife ..., paternal granddaughter of Frederick Harold Strouvelle (Croydon, Sussex, 1887 - ?) and wife (West Ham, London, Middlesex, January / March 1914) Elsa "Elsie" May Bouette (West Ham, London, Middlesex, July / September 1888 - 1983); Frederick Harold Strouvelle was son of John Peter Alexander Strouvelle (Rheinisch Forbach, Lorraine, France, 1833 - London, Middlesex, 18 May 1889) and wife (Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, 3 August 1874) Lydia Ross (Westmorland Whinfell, Cumbria, 1852 - ?), paternal grandson of Andreas Strouvelle or Strowelle (Lorraine, France, ca. 1810 - ?) and wife ... and maternal grandson of Alexander Ross (Inverness, Inverness-shire, 1815 - ?) (son of Alexander Ross and wife ...) and wife (Kendal, Cumbria, 13 August 1843) Mary Huck (Fawcett Forest, Westmorland, 20 December 1811 - ?) (daughter of Thomas Huck and wife Mary Hall); Elsa "Elsie" Marie Bouette was daughter of Alfred Tranquille Bouette (London, Middlesex, 1861 - London, Middlesex, 1912) and wife (West Ham, London, Middlesex, October / December 1883) Sarah Alice Gould and paternal granddaughter of Louis Bouette (1840 - 1920) (son of Florentin Eloy Bouette (France, 1816 - 1891) and wife Mary Susannah Narroway) and wife Harriet .... They were the parents of Eleanor Campbell, Duchess of Argyll, and Simon Charles Cadbury, born in 1975.

Blue plaque at George Road, Edgbaston

Legacy

The George Cadbury Carillon School was opened in 2006 and is the only carillon school in the United Kingdom.

George Cadbury has a miniature locomotive named after him, originally owned by the husband of his daughter Elsie Dorothea.

Biography

• Walter Stranz: George Cadbury (Shire Publications, Aylesbury, 1973) ISBN 0-85263-236-3
• Claus Bernet (2008). "George Cadbury". In Bautz, Traugott (ed.). Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL) (in German). Vol. 29. Nordhausen: Bautz. cols. 257–261. ISBN 978-3-88309-452-6.

References

• "Burke's Peerage and Baronetage"

External links

• Encyclopædia Britannica George Cadbury
• former residence of George Cadbury
• Letter from George Cadbury in England to William Cooper in Australia, 1920