List of Quaker businesses
Encyclopedia
This is a list of notable businesses, organizations or charities originally founded by Quakers
. Many of these are no longer managed or influenced by Quakers. At the end of the article are businesses that have never had any connection to Quakers, but some people may believe that they did or still do.
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
. Many of these are no longer managed or influenced by Quakers. At the end of the article are businesses that have never had any connection to Quakers, but some people may believe that they did or still do.
A
- American Friends Service CommitteeAmerican Friends Service CommitteeThe American Friends Service Committee is a Religious Society of Friends affiliated organization which works for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world...
, a Quaker peace and social justice organization founded in 1917. - Amnesty InternationalAmnesty InternationalAmnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, human rights organization; Eric BakerEric Baker (activist)Eric Baker was a British activist and one of the founders of the human rights group Amnesty International, and the second general secretary of the organization...
was a founding partner. - Albright and WilsonAlbright and WilsonAlbright and Wilson was founded in 1856 as a United Kingdom manufacturer of potassium chlorate and white phosphorus for the match industry. For much of its first 100 years of existence, phosphorus-derived chemicals formed the majority of its products....
, Manufacturing chemists.
B
- Barclays Bank, finance.
- Bethlehem SteelBethlehem SteelThe Bethlehem Steel Corporation , based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was once the second-largest steel producer in the United States, after Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based U.S. Steel. After a decline in the U.S...
, founded by Quaker entrepreneur Joseph WhartonJoseph WhartonJoseph Wharton was a prominent Philadelphia merchant, industrialist and philanthropist, who was involved in mining, manufacturing and education...
. - Bradshaw's, Victorian and Edwardian publisher of the most widely used railway timetables in Britain, Europe and India, founded by Quaker George BradshawGeorge BradshawGeorge Bradshaw was an English cartographer, printer and publisher. He is best known for developing the most successful and longest published series of combined railway timetables.-Biography:...
. - Bryant and MayBryant and MayFor the Bryant and May series of crime mystery books, see the author Christopher Fowler.Bryant and May was a United Kingdom company created in the mid-nineteenth century specifically to make matches. Their original Bryant and May Factory was located in Bow, London...
, former match manufacturing company, founded by two Quakers, Francis May and William Bryant.
C
- Cadbury plc, chocolate and drinks manufacturer, was founded by Quaker John CadburyJohn CadburyJohn Cadbury was proprietor of a small chocolate business in Birmingham, England, that later became part of Cadbury plc, one of the world's largest chocolate producers.-Biography:...
, and expanded by Quaker sons RichardRichard CadburyRichard Cadbury was the second son of the Quaker John Cadbury, founder of Cadbury's cocoa and chocolate company....
and GeorgeGeorge CadburyGeorge Cadbury was the third son of John Cadbury, a Quaker who founded Cadbury's cocoa and chocolate company.-Background:... - Carr'sCarr'sCarr's is the name of foodstuff and agricultural brands historically derived from founder Jonathan Dodgson Carr but now owned and marketed by more than one separate company. In 1831, Carr formed a small bakery and biscuit factory in the English city of Carlisle; he received a royal warrant in 1841...
, UK biscuit manufacturer. - CHUM LimitedCHUM LimitedCHUM Limited was a media company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from 1945 to 2007. Immediately prior to its acquisition, it held full or joint control of two Canadian television systems — Citytv and A-Channel — comprising 11 local stations, and one CBC Television affiliate, one...
, a major Canadian media company, which was founded by Ted Rogers, Sr, a former caretaker of Pickering CollegePickering CollegePickering College is an independent, co-educational school for children in grades from Junior Kindergarten through grade 12. It is located in Newmarket, Ontario in Canada on a 17-hectare property on Bayview Avenue...
who invented the radio tube. - ClarksC&J ClarkC. and J. Clark International Ltd, trading as Clarks, is a British, international shoe manufacturer and retailer based in Street, Somerset, England...
, shoe manufacturer. - Coalbrookdale CompanyAbraham DarbyAbraham Darby may refer to:*Abraham Darby I *Abraham Darby II *Abraham Darby III *Abraham Darby IV , High Sheriff of BuckinghamshireAbraham Darby may also refer to:...
, iron manufacturer. - Cornell UniversityCornell UniversityCornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, Ivy league educational institution in Ithaca, New York, US. - Crosfield's, a British chemicals company founded in 1814 by Quaker Joseph CrosfieldJoseph CrosfieldJoseph Crosfield was a businessman who established a soap and chemical manufacturing business in Warrington, which was in the historic county of Lancashire and is now in the ceremonial county of Cheshire...
, now a subsidiary of IneosIneosINEOS Group Limited is a privately owned multinational chemicals company headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland and with its registered office in Lyndhurst, United Kingdom...
. - Cully&Sully, Irish food producer, famous for its award-winning pies.
D
- Duane MorrisDuane MorrisDuane Morris LLP is a law firm headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1904 as Duane, Morris, Heckscher & Roberts, the firm has 24 offices in the United States, London, Singapore and Vietnam. In addition to legal services, Duane Morris has independent affiliates employing...
, now one of the 100 largest law firms in the US, and still committed to Quaker values.
F
- Friends ProvidentFriends ProvidentFriends Provident was an organisation offering life insurance based in the United Kingdom. It was founded as a mutual Friendly Society for Quakers, although it was demutualised in 2001 and became a publicly listed company, no longer linked with the Religious Society of Friends...
, life assurance company, was founded by Quakers Samuel Tuke and Joseph RowntreeJoseph RowntreeJoseph Rowntree may be:*Joseph Rowntree , English grocer and educational reformer*Joseph Rowntree , son of the above, English chocolate manufacturer and philanthropist...
. - J. S. Fry & SonsJ. S. Fry & SonsJ. S. Fry & Sons, Ltd. was a British chocolate company owned by Joseph Storrs Fry and his family.This business moved through several names and hands before ending up as J. S. Fry & Sons.- History :*circa 1759 — Joseph Fry starts making chocolate...
, chocolate manufacturer.
G
- GreenpeaceGreenpeaceGreenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
, campaigning environment organization — The four founding members include Irving StoweIrving StoweIrving Harold Stowe was a Yale lawyer, activist, visionary and a key founder of Greenpeace. He was named one of the “BAM 100” ....
and Dorothy Stowe of Vancouver Monthly Meeting.
H
- Hilton, Anderson, Brooks, & Co, a Victorian cement producer that became the largest employer in Essex, England, founded by Quaker Edmund Wright BrooksEdmund Wright BrooksEdmund Wright Brooks was an English Quaker philanthropist and cement maker. He was active in the Anti-Slavery movement and also in famine relief in Russia and aid to Armenians...
. - Humane Resources Ltd, a UK business claiming to provide ethically sound, practical and affordable advice and support with employment disputes;
- Huntley and Palmers biscuits, manufacturer in Reading, BerkshireReading, BerkshireReading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
. - HuntsmanBenjamin HuntsmanBenjamin Huntsman was an English inventor and manufacturer of cast or crucible steel.-Biography:Huntsman was born the third son of a Quaker farmer in Epworth, Lincolnshire. His parents were Germans who had emigrated only a few years before his birth.Huntsman started business as a clock, lock and...
, steel manufacturer. - Hussey Seating Co., a North Berwick, Maine manufacturer of stadium and gymnasium seating systems, founded by the Hussey family in 1835.
I
- The Inman LineInman LineThe Inman Line which operated from 1850 until its 1893 absorption into American Line, was one of the three largest 19th century British passenger shipping companies on the North Atlantic, along with the White Star Line and Cunard Line...
, a Victorian passenger shipping line on the North Atlantic, founded in 1850 by Irish Quaker industrialist John Grubb RichardsonJohn Grubb RichardsonJohn Grubb Richardson was a major Irish industrialist who founded the model village of Bessbrook near Newry, in what is now Northern Ireland...
and Englishman William InmanWilliam InmanWilliam Inman was the owner of the Liverpool, New York and Philadelphia Steamship Company, also known as the Inman Line, which ran services from Liverpool to New York & Philadelphia, in the United States, for emigration in the mid-19th century.He was the owner of Upton Manor, in the grounds of...
.
M
- Marigold Health Food, a London-based health food distributor founded in 1975 by Quaker entrepreneur David Swinstead.
- Miami Beach Improvement Company, the first land developer in Miami Beach, was founded in 1911 by Quaker John S. CollinsJohn S. CollinsJohn Stiles Collins was an American Quaker farmer from Moorestown Township, New Jersey who moved to southern Florida and attempted to grow vegetables and coconuts on the swampy, bug-infested stretch of land between Miami and the ocean, a barrier island which became Miami Beach.Although the farming...
. - Mount of Olives, an Irish company founded by Richard Kimbell, imports and distributes olives from Jenin in the West Bank and distributes all profits to youth projects and schools.
N
- Neptune Works, also known as Wigham RichardsonWigham RichardsonThe Wigham Richardson shipbuilding company was named after its founder, John Wigham Richardson , the son of Edward Richardson, a tanner from Newcastle upon Tyne, and Jane Wigham from Edinburgh.-History:...
, a British shipbuilder founded in 1860 by John Wigham RichardsonJohn Wigham RichardsonJohn Wigham Richardson was one of the great figures of British industrial life, and a leading shipbuilder on Tyneside during the late 19th and early 20th century.-Career:...
that pioneered steel construction for ships; it later merged with Swan HunterSwan HunterSwan Hunter, formerly known as "Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson", was one of the best known shipbuilding companies in the world. Based in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, the company was responsible for some of the greatest ships of the early 20th century — most famously, the RMS Mauretania which...
to become the largest shipbuilder of its day.
P
- PQ Corporation, chemical industry firm. Founded Philadelphia Quartz by Philadelphia Quaker businessman Joseph Elkinton in 1831.
Q
- Quakers & Business, charity
- Queen City Oil Company, headquartered in Toronto, was founded by Samuel and Elias Rogers and evolved into Imperial OilImperial OilImperial Oil Limited is Canada's largest petroleum company. The company is engaged in the exploration, production and sale of crude oil and natural gas. It is controlled by US based ExxonMobil, which owns 69.6% of its stock...
, which is now the Canadian subsidiary of ExxonExxonExxon is a chain of gas stations as well as a brand of motor fuel and related products by ExxonMobil. From 1972 to 1999, Exxon was the corporate name of the company previously known as Standard Oil Company of New Jersey or Jersey Standard....
.
R
- RenovaréRenovaréRenovaré is a Christian non-profit organization dedicated to helping individuals and churches to grow in Christlikeness by engaging in intentional Christian spiritual formation...
, an interfaith group founded by Richard J. Foster. - Rowntree's (now Rowntree Mackintosh, owned by NestléNestléNestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...
), chocolate manufacturer was founded by Quaker Joseph RowntreeJoseph RowntreeJoseph Rowntree may be:*Joseph Rowntree , English grocer and educational reformer*Joseph Rowntree , son of the above, English chocolate manufacturer and philanthropist...
S
- Sandy Hill Bank, founded in 1868 by Quaker farmers, is now the largest bank in the state of Maryland, USA.
- Scott Bader Commonwealth, a British manufacturer of advanced resins and composites, founded by Ernest BaderErnest BaderErnest Bader and his wife, Dora Scott, founded a chemical company, Scott Bader, and gave it to the employees, under terms of Common ownership, forming the Scott Bader Commonwealth, in 1951....
in 1951. - Strawbridge and Clothier, (now part of Macy's) department store chain, USA (Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware).
- SonySony, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
(formerly Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo, or Tokyo Telecommunication Engineering, Co.); TTK's founding board president was Tamon Maeda, a Japanese Quaker, prewar Japanese ambassador to ILO, and postwar Minister of Education. - Stockton and Darlington RailwayStockton and Darlington RailwayThe Stockton and Darlington Railway , which opened in 1825, was the world's first publicly subscribed passenger railway. It was 26 miles long, and was built in north-eastern England between Witton Park and Stockton-on-Tees via Darlington, and connected to several collieries near Shildon...
, established in 1825 by Quaker Edward Pease, operated the world's first permanent steam locomotive-hauled railway line.
W
- Waterford CrystalWaterford CrystalWaterford Crystal is a trademark brand of crystal glassware, previously produced in Waterford, Ireland, though the factory there was shut down after the receivership of Waterford Wedgwood plc in early 2009...
, a former producer of crystal glass was founded by Quakers in 1783, however this company closed in 1851. The modern Waterford WedgwoodWaterford WedgwoodWaterford Wedgwood plc is the former holding entity for a group of companies headquartered in Ireland, which specialised in the manufacture of high quality china, porcelain and glass. The group was dominated by Tony O'Reilly and his immediate family, and the family of Mr. O'Reilly's second wife,...
was not founded by Quakers, being the merger of a separate Waterford CrystalWaterford CrystalWaterford Crystal is a trademark brand of crystal glassware, previously produced in Waterford, Ireland, though the factory there was shut down after the receivership of Waterford Wedgwood plc in early 2009...
company founded in 1947 by non-Quaker Charles BacikCharles BacikKarel Bacik , was a Czech glass manufacturer and a founder of Waterford Glass.He was born in Nová Říše, graduated from Charles University, Prague, and began working in glass manufacturing in Světlá nad Sázavou in 1935...
, and WedgwoodWedgwoodWedgwood, strictly speaking Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, is a pottery firm owned by KPS Capital Partners, a private equity company based in New York City, USA. Wedgwood was founded on May 1, 1759 by Josiah Wedgwood and in 1987 merged with Waterford Crystal to create Waterford Wedgwood, an...
, founded by the UnitarianGeneral Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian ChurchesThe General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches is the umbrella organisation for Unitarian, Free Christian and other liberal religious congregations in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1928, with denominational roots going back to the Great Ejection of 1662...
, Josiah WedgwoodJosiah WedgwoodJosiah Wedgwood was an English potter, founder of the Wedgwood company, credited with the industrialization of the manufacture of pottery. A prominent abolitionist, Wedgwood is remembered for his "Am I Not A Man And A Brother?" anti-slavery medallion. He was a member of the Darwin–Wedgwood family...
.
Businesses with no Quaker connection
- Quaker Oats CompanyQuaker Oats CompanyThe Quaker Oats Company is an American food conglomerate based in Chicago. It has been owned by Pepsico since 2001.-History:Quaker Oats was founded in 1901 by the merger of four oat mills:...
, food manufacturer. - Quaker Funds, an investment firm.
- Quaker StatePennzoilPennzoil is an American oil company founded in Los Angeles, California in 1913. In 1955, it was acquired by Oil City, Pennsylvania company South Penn Oil, a former branch of Standard Oil. In 1963, South Penn Oil merged with Zapata Petroleum; the merged company took the Pennzoil name. During the...
, motor oil brand.