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
William Allen (Quaker) William Allen (Quaker) William Allen (29 August 1770 – 30 September 1843) was an English scientist and philanthropist who opposed slavery and engaged in schemes of social and penal improvement in early nineteenth-century England. He was the eldest son in the Quaker family of Job Allen (1734–1800), a silk manufacturer and his wife Margaret Stafford (died 1830). He was educated at a Quaker school in Rochester, Kent, and then went into his father's business. As a young man, in the 1790s, he became interested in science. He attended meetings of scientific societies, including lectures at St. Thomas's Hospital and Guy's