| Description | This section contains photographs of the Quaker businessman, housing reformer and philanthropist George Cadbury (1839-1922). The images provide a photographic biography of George Cadbury's personal life and public achievements. Many of the photographs show Cadbury with his family and reflect his involvement with the development of the Cadbury chocolate factory at Bournville and Bournville village during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The section contains photographs relating to George Cadbury's early life, showing his parents and siblings, as well as images taken during the period of his business training with the Rowntree family in the middle of the nineteenth century. A number of portrait photographs of George Cadbury taken when he was a young man up until just before his death in October 1922 are also included, as well as many images showing him with his second wife Elizabeth Taylor Cadbury, his children from both of his marriages and his grandchildren. The section contains photographs of George Cadbury and Elizabeth Taylor Cadbury taken on the occasion of their Silver Wedding Anniversary in 1913 and images of the Cadbury family homes, Woodbrooke, the Manor House and Wynds Point, their home in Malvern.
The photographs in this section relate to George Cadbury's public career, illustrating his involvement with both the Cadbury Works and Bournville village. Images of George Cadbury with Cadbury employees and both national and international visitors feature alongside a collection of photographs commemorating the Royal Visit to Bournville by King George V and Queen Mary in May 1919. The section also contains images of testimonials presented to George Cadbury by Cadbury employees, residents at Bournville and the staff of the Daily News. These commemorative tributes feature alongside photographs showing the large crowds who attended George Cadbury's Memorial Service in 1922. Images of the commemorative portraits and busts of Cadbury which were put on permanent display around Bournville following his death are also included.
The photographs in this section are attached to backing sheets, typically A3 size pieces of paper which feature a typed title, a date and a brief description of the image shown. This information has been reproduced here in the entries for each item, with the inclusion of further detail where possible. When these photographs were originally catalogued each backing sheet was numbered as one individual item. This numbering system has been maintained, with some entries describing multiple images attached to one individual backing sheet.
There are a number of photographers and photographic firms represented in this series which includes portrait photographs produced by H.J. Whitlock and Harold Baker. Where George Cadbury and his family have been photographed at events associated with the Bournville Village Trust or the Cadbury Works at Bournville then a photographer affiliated with the Trust and Firm was typically used. |
| AdminHistory | George Cadbury was born in Edgbaston, Birmingham on 19th September 1839, the third son of Quaker businessman John Cadbury (1805-1855). After leaving school Cadbury travelled to York where he worked for Joseph Rowntree and was trained in business methods before returning to Birmingham where he joined his father's cocoa factory alongside his elder brother Richard Cadbury (1835-1899). In 1861 the brothers assumed control of the Cadbury business, moving the family's expanding chocolate manufactory to Bournville in 1879.
George Cadbury's business methods were informed by his Quaker faith which also motivated his participation in philanthropic work in Birmingham, particularly his association with the Severn Street Adult School in the city. Concerned with the physical and spiritual health of the city's working-class population, George Cadbury became involved with local politics, campaigning for housing reform. Following the removal of the Cadbury factory to the rural surroundings of Bournville, George Cadbury instigated the development of a village around the factory, providing a healthier working and living environment for Birmingham's industrial workforce. Through his work at Bournville, Cadbury became a figure of national importance in relation to housing reform and was associated with many prominent public figures involved in political and philanthropic work. His support for Liberal politics led him to assume control of a national newspaper, the 'Daily News', through which he promoted welfare reform and instigated philanthropic initiatives.
George Cadbury married Mary Tylor (1849-1887) in 1873, a marriage which produced three sons and two daughters before Mary's death in 1887. In 1888 George married Elizabeth Taylor, becoming father to a further three sons and three daughters between 1889 and 1906. The family lived firstly at Woodbrooke in Selly Oak before moving to the Manor House, Northfield in 1895. George and Elizabeth Cadbury later gave the house and grounds of Woodbrooke for the foundation of a residential Quaker college. Widely celebrated for his contribution to the reform of industrial working and living conditions, George Cadbury died at his family home in Northfield in 1922. |