Joseph Rowntree (philanthropist) Joseph Rowntree (philanthropist) Joseph Rowntree (24 May 1836 – 24 February 1925) was an English Quaker philanthropist and businessman from York. Rowntree is perhaps best known for being a champion of social reform, partner and friend of Charles Booth, and his time as a chocolatier at family business "Rowntree's", one of the most important in Britain. Even as a powerful businessman, he was deeply interested in improving the quality of life of his employees; this led to him becoming a philanthropist, pursuing many charitable causes. In 1904 he created three trusts, the Joseph Rowntree Village Trust (JRVT) which was originally
Quaker trusteeship non-Quakers sought to assign their slaves to the Quaker trusts. The latter practice so worried the Quaker leadership that they prohibited it at the 1822 Yearly Meeting. Trustees fulfilled their obligations by granting entrusted slaves virtual freedom or transporting them to a state where freedom was available. Slaves held in trust in North Carolina often earned their own wages, ran their own families and owned their own property. Quakers also opened schools for these quasi-freedmen as early as 1816. Trustees sent other slaves to governments where the slave could be freed without violating the law. Popular destinations for entrusted slaves