Richard Cadbury

Blue plaque at Wheeley's Road, Edgbaston

Richard Barrow Cadbury (29 August 1835 – 22 March 1899) was a British businessman, Christian and philanthropist. He was the second son of the Quaker John Cadbury, founder of Cadbury's cocoa and chocolate company.

Together with his younger brother George he took over the family business in 1861.

Bourneville, the Model Village

In 1878 the business needed larger premises and the Cadburys decided to build a new factory with worker accommodation of a high standard, creating a model village. They chose a 14½ acre greenfield site between the villages of Stirchley, King's Norton and Selly Oak, about four miles south of central Birmingham. They names it 'Bournville'. On the site they built homes for the workers, far superior to the crowded slums of the city. The new site had canal, train and road links and a good water supply. Essential to their vision was a workplace that included plenty of green spaces, where industrial workers could thrive away from city pollution. 'No man ought to be condemned to live in a place where a rose cannot grow,’ said George Cadbury.

Birmingham architect, George H. Gadd worked closely with George Cadbury to draw up plans for the factory. The first bricks were laid in January 1879 and 16 houses for foremen and senior employees were built on the site.

These mostly semi-detached houses were well-built and spaced out with ample gardens. Production began at the Cadbury Brothers' 'Bournville factory in a garden' in September 1879. When the workers arrived they found facilities that were previously unknown in Victorian times. There was a field next to the factory where men were encouraged to play cricket and football; a garden and playground for the girls; a kitchen where workers could heat up their meals, and properly heated dressing rooms where they could get changed. As George said, 'If the country is a good place to live in, why not to work in?’ Keen sportsmen, Richard and George encouraged sports and recreations, often playing cricket themselves. Sports facilities grew to include football, hockey and cricket pitches, tennis and squash racquet courts and a bowling green. Gradually women's and men's swimming pools were built and every young boy and girl joining the company was encouraged to become a good swimmer. Work outings to the country were organised together with summer camps for the young boys.

A school was built for the children of the workers on the Bourneville site, where George Cadbury insisted there should be daily prayers and a Christian ethos.

For workers who still needed to travel to the new factory from their homes in Birmingham, the Cadbury brothers negotiated special workmen's train fares to Bournville’s Stirchley Station with the local railway company. Cadbury duly became famous not just for its prosperity, but also for the advances in conditions and social benefits for its workforce.

As the Cadburys were Quakers, they placed a prohibition on the sale or consumption of alcohol anywhere on the estate. The garden village of Bournville is now a major suburb of Birmingham.

Encouragement of Education

For a long time, the Cadburys company ran national competitions for school children in essay-writing. The prizes were boxes of chocolates with a picture of their factory in a garden. These are now prized souvenirs and collector's items.

Gift to the Children of Birmingham

After his death, Richard Cadbury donated Moseley Hall to the City of Birmingham, for use as a children's convalescent home.

References

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