Chocolate Wars: The 150-Year Rivalry Between the World's Greatest Chocolate Makers (7 page)

But for George and Richard, there was another motive that went well beyond personal considerations. Business was not an end in itself; it was a means to an end. As Quakers, through their still failing business, they had a far greater goal to fulfill.

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or George and Richard, the chocolate factory was to be much more than a commercial enterprise. As Quakers they shared a vision of social justice and reform: a new world in which the poor and needy would be lifted from the “ruin of deprivation.” For generations, Cadburys had been members of the Society of Friends or Quakers, a spiritual movement originally started by George Fox in the seventeenth century. In a curious irony, the very religion that inspired Quakers to act charitably towards the poor also produced a set of codes and practices that placed a few thousand close-knit families like the Cadburys in pole position to generate astounding material rewards at the start of the industrial age.

Richard and George had been brought up on stories of George Fox, and many of the values, aspirations, and disciplines that shaped their lives stemmed from Fox’s teachings. Born in 1624, the son of a weaver from Fenny Drayton, Leicestershire, Fox grew up with a passionate interest in religion at a time when the country had seen years of religious turmoil. Fox went “to many a priest looking for comfort, but found no comfort from them.” He was appalled at the inhumanity carried out in the name of religion: people imprisoned, hung, or even beheaded for their faith. Disregarding the danger following the outbreak of civil war in 1642, he left home the following year and set out on foot for London. At just
nineteen years old, Fox embarked on a personal quest for greater understanding.

During his years of travels, “when my hopes . . . in all men were gone,” he had an epiphany. The key to religion was not to be found in the sermons of preachers but in an individual’s inner experience. Inspired, he began to speak out, urging people to listen to their own conscience. Because “God dwelleth in the hearts of obedient people,” he reasoned, it followed that an individual could find “the spirit of Christ within” to guide them, instead of taking orders from others. But his simple interpretation of Christianity put him in direct opposition to the authorities. If an individual was listening to the voice of God within himself, it followed that priests and religious authorities were a needless intermediary between man and God.

Fox was perceived as dangerous and his preaching blasphemous to established churches. Even the like-minded Puritans objected. They too adhered to a rigorous moral code and high standards of self-discipline, and they disdained worldly pursuits. But Fox’s emphasis on the direct relationship between a believer and God went far beyond what most Puritans deemed tolerable. In emphasizing the primary importance of an individual’s experience, Fox appeared contemptuous of the authorities and mocked their petty regulations. For example, he would not swear on oath. If there was only one absolute truth, he reasoned, what was the point of a double standard, differentiating between “truth” and “truth on oath”?

By 1649 Fox had crossed one magistrate too many. He was thrown into jail in Nottingham, “a pitiful stinking place, where the wind brought in all the stench of the house.” The following year he was jailed in Derby prison for blasphemy. A justice in Derby in 1650 is believed to be the first to use the term “Quaker” to mock George Fox and his followers. He scoffed at the idea expressed in their meetings in which they were “silent before God” until moved to speak, “trembling at the word of the God.” Despite its origins as a term of abuse, the name Quaker soon became widespread.

Fox was imprisoned sixty times, but the Quaker movement continued to gain momentum. It is estimated that during the reign of
Charles II, 198 Quakers were transported overseas as slaves, 338 died from injuries received defending their faith, and 13,562 were imprisoned. Among them were Richard and George’s forebears on their father’s side, including Richard Tapper Cadbury, a “woolcomber” who was held in Southgate prison in Exeter in 1683 and again in 1684.

By the end of Fox’s life in 1691, there were 100,000 Quakers, and the movement had spread to America, parts of Europe, and even the West Indies. Fox established a series of meetings for Friends to discuss issues and formalize business: regional Monthly Meeting, county Quarterly Meeting, and a national Yearly Meeting. Key decisions at these meetings were written down and became known as the Advices. By 1738 these writings had been collated by clerks, transcribed in elegant longhand, and bound in a green manuscript,
Christian and Brotherly Advices
, which was made available to Friends Meetings across the country. It set out codes of personal conduct for Friends, under such headings as “Love,” “Covetousness,” and “Discipline.” A section on “Plainness,” for example, encouraged Quakers to cultivate “plainness of speech, behaviour and apparel.” A Friend’s clothing should be dark and unadorned; even collars were removed from jackets as they were deemed too decorative.

The strict rules of the Quakers also dictated that anyone who married outside the society had to leave. As a result, Quaker families tended to intermarry, resulting in a close-knit community across England of several thousand Quaker families. Generations of Quakers had emerged from years of persecution with a sense of solidarity and bonds forged by friendship, marriage, apprenticeships, and business. As the Industrial Revolution was gathering speed, this same solidarity and self-reliance generated a new spirit of enterprise. At a time when there was no such thing as a national newspaper, the Quakers—meeting regularly in different regions across Britain—enjoyed a unique forum in which to exchange ideas.

In 1709 Abraham Darby, a Quaker from Shropshire, pioneered a method of smelting high-grade iron using coke rather than charcoal. His son, Abraham Darby II, improved the process, changing the traditional horse pumps for steam engines to recycle water and refining
techniques for making quality wrought iron. The Darbys built the world’s first iron bridge and first major railway to ferry coal and ore at their iron foundry in Coalbrookdale in Shropshire. Their roaring furnaces drew visitors from miles around to see the awesome spectacle of flame, smoke, and machine. The younger Darby’s daughter found the noise alone of “the stupendous bellows whose alternate roars, like foaming billows, was awful to hear.”

Such advances fuelled the development of the iron industry, which powered the Industrial Revolution. In Sheffield, the Quaker inventor Benjamin Huntsman developed a purer and stronger form of cast steel. The Lloyds, a Welsh Quaker family, moved to Birmingham to create a factory for making iron rods and nails. In Bristol, a Quaker cooperative launched the Bristol Brass Foundry. By the early eighteenth century, Quakers managed approximately two-thirds of all British ironworks.

Railways accelerated the pace of change, and a Quaker was responsible for the world’s first passenger train. In 1814, a meeting with engineer George Stevenson inspired Edward Pease, a Quaker businessman, to build the Stockton and Darlington Railway. On September 27, 1825, the first steam-hauled passenger train travelled twelve miles to Stockton on what became known as the “Quaker Line.” Numerous Quakers were involved in financing and directing railway companies. Even the railway ticket and stamping machine was devised by a Quaker, Thomas Edmonson, as was the railway timetable itself,
Bradshaw’s Railway Times
, created by George Bradshaw.

There seemed no limit to the number of new ideas generated by Quaker businessmen. Chinaware originally imported by the East India Company sparked developments in pottery and porcelain. In Plymouth, William Cookworthy introduced a new way to make fine china using Cornish china clay. In Staffordshire, Josiah Wedgwood launched a pottery business. Enduring shoe businesses were founded by Quakers: John Somervell opened K Shoes in Kendall, and James Clark in the village of Street in Somerset established the firm that still bears his name. The Reckitts started their business in household goods, while the Crosfields were soap and chemical manufacturers
whose company evolved into Lever Brothers. The roll call of Quaker entrepreneurs resounds through the centuries with names like Bryant and May, who designed a safer form of matches; Huntley and Palmer, who started a biscuit business in Reading; and Allen and Hanbury, who developed pharmaceuticals.

Banking too was built on Quaker virtue. At a time of little financial regulation, according to the writer Daniel Defoe, the activities of many eighteenth-century financiers were seen as “founded in Fraud, born of Deceit, nourished by Trick, Cheat, Wheedle, Forgeries, Falsehood”—not totally dissimilar to some twenty-first-century banks. The Quaker traders stood apart. Customers learned to rely on typical Quaker attributes: skilled bookkeeping, integrity, and honesty served up by sober Bible-reading men in plain dark clothes. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, local Quaker businesses began providing a counter in their offices that offered banking services. By the early nineteenth century, this practice had blossomed to seventy-four Quaker banks, one for almost every large city in Britain. James Barclay formed Barclays Bank in London, Henry Gurney established Gurney’s Bank in Norwich, Edward Pease formed the Pease Bank in Darlington, Lloyds Bank was started in Birmingham, Backhouse’s Bank grew across the north, Birkbeck flourished in Yorkshire, the Foxes set up in Falmouth, the Sparkes operated in Exeter, and many more. By the time Richard and George were born, Quaker banks, founded on a unique and trusted set of values, formed a solid network across the country.

As their banks and other businesses flourished, the Society of Friends continued to exchange views in Quaker meetings across the country, and the stoic independence, self-discipline, and questioning rebelliousness fashioned over a century in England was now channelled into the spirit of enterprise that fuelled the furnaces and mills of the Industrial Revolution.

B
ut there was something else unique that guided Quakers in business from the earliest days of the Industrial Revolution. The original
Christian and Brotherly Advices
of 1738 also included a section on “Trading.” This highlighted key issues that a Friend might encounter in business and how to deal with them. It marks the foundation of business ethics built on truth, honesty, and justice—values that would form the basis of Quaker capitalism.

Central to the advice was that a Quaker must always honor his word:

Quakers entering into business were therefore encouraged to keep written accounts since accurate and thorough bookkeeping helped avoid errors of judgment.

Above all else, Quaker elders, many of whom were in trade themselves, were keen “to Prevent the Great Reproach and Scandal” that might damage the reputation of the Society:

The local Monthly Meetings across the country were a forum for exchanging ideas, and Quakers were urged “to have a Watchful Eye over all their Members.” If they found anyone “Deficient in Discharging their Contracts and just Debts,” they were charged with “launching an Inspection into their Circumstances.” Should “the Transgressor” fail to heed honest advice, “Friends justifiably may and ought to testify against such offenders.” Accordingly, Friends collaborated in their local communities to help one another achieve high standards of integrity in trade.

As early as 1738, Quakers had a set of specific guidelines for business, which endeavored to apply the teachings of Christ to the workplace. Straight dealing, fair play, honesty, accuracy, and truth would form the basis of Quaker capitalism, and for those who fell short, there were rules of discipline. These guidelines were supplied to clerks in the Monthly and Quarterly Meetings and refined and formally updated every generation. They provide a snapshot of changing ethical concerns as the Industrial Revolution gathered momentum. For example, when the trading guidelines were updated in 1783 in the
Book of Extracts
, Friends were warned against a “most pernicious practice,” which could lead to “utter ruin”: the use of paper credit. This was considered “highly unbecoming,” falling far short of “that uprightness that ought to appear in every member of our religious society.” The 1783
Extracts
warned unequivocally that this practice was “absolutely inconsistent with the truth.”