Friedensthal, Germany

The Seebohm family roots lay in the German Quaker colony Friedensthal (‘peace dale’) near the spa town of Bad Pyrmont in Westphalia. Friedensthal was founded in 1792 by Johann Georg Ludwig Seebohm (1757-1835) and his pietistic brethren who had split from the Lutheran church in the late 1780s and were influenced by a more »< Read More...

Cadbury/Fry, Rowntree and

The fortunes of the three major British confectionery companies started in the 19th century were interlocking for much of their history. Their commercial relationships were underpinned by a strong family unity and inter-marriage, linked by their Quaker faith that united them in national affairs. During the later years of the First World War, more »< Read More...

Bootham School

Bootham School was first proposed in 1818 by the Quaker, William Tuke. Originally located in Lawrence Street, it moved to the present site on Bootham in 1846. The second headmaster (or ‘superintendent’) was John Ford, who in the course of 37 years did much to shape the character of the school, and instituted more »< Read More...

Adult School Movement

One man in five and one woman in three could neither read nor write in mid-Victorian York. The first adult school (which grew out of ‘first-day’ schools, referring to the first day of the week, Sunday) were set up by Joseph Rowntree (Senior) and other leading Quakers. Many members of the Rowntree family, more »< Read More...