The Quaker Model Of Organized Resistance

Some scholars see the link of culture and entrepreneurship as the determinative factor in what they describe as ‘the Quaker success story’. That there is such a link is now widely accepted. So, ‘the quality of entrepreneurship depends upon the quality of business culture’, which in turn is built upon trust, thus reducing transaction costs, as does co-operation between family firms and indeed the existence of external networks. These are crucial factors in understanding the Quaker business story.

The membership of the Society of Friends, however, was instilled with a high moral culture, the product in part of an extensive family and kinship network. This, together with an inherited religious code emphasizing spiritual priorities, redounded to the advantage of Quaker men of business in terms of confidence and expectations.

The basic building block of this Quaker culture was the experience of spiritually minded merchants facing exclusion and persecution turning their skill and passion to business. There is good evidence that merchants, artisans and craftsmen were overrepresented in those attracted to the Quakers. Indeed, the proportion of Quakers involved in industry and commerce may have been as much as 5–10 times the proportion of the general population so involved. This rather supports the earlier observation that Quakerism appealed more to the middle classes than either gentry or laborer. These figures derive from the earliest period of the Quaker expansion in the latter part of the seventeenth century. However, if the Quaker faith was established among these groups, it is less surprising that at the dawn of the industrial revolution 100 years later these families were at the forefront.

The added factor to the ‘natural disposition’ of those families that were attracted to Quakerism was the impact of the 150 years of exclusion and persecution. Nothing was more likely to hone the entrepreneurial spirit than the attempt to extinguish it. The early Quakers attracted the suspicion of disloyalty. Interrupting sermons in the parish church may not have helped their cause, but there was a healthy skepticism towards the establishment – whether the ruler was Charles I, Oliver Cromwell or Charles II. Under the Clarendon Code the Quakers suffered both direct persecution (imprisonment) and indirect (exclusion from universities, from civic life and from certain professions). The Corporation Act effectively excluded them from both civic and professional life in the ‘corporate’ cities – that is, those established under a charter. This explains some of the regional variations in Quaker strength. A merchant, trader or craftsman facing what effectively amounts to restraint of trade in a large city will leave and live somewhere where trade is possible. The constraints ranged from fines for non-attendance at Anglican worship through to the inability to sue for the recovery of debt. The largest city in England that did not operate under a charter of incorporation was Birmingham, and so this city became a center for Quaker entrepreneurial activity. Indeed this heritage of a free and tolerant city meant that Birmingham became the center for a more liberal social vision of society through the later reforming work of Joseph Chamberlain and the Whigs, supported by, but going beyond, Quakerism itself. Birmingham also became the location of the Quaker model village of Bournville – to which we will return.

A further cultural factor that affected Quaker entrepreneurship was exclusion not only from civic life but also from universities. This led to the Quakers valuing education all the more, founding their own schools and providing business education within the community through the development of apprenticeships.

Minds which in the universities would have provided the research workers and scholars, were diverted into business, and found their most congenial outlet in the more technical businesses, where an aptitude for study could find expression in experiment and observation.

This may go some way to explaining why the Darbys and others flourished in the iron industry, not only in trading but also in technical development. The Darbys might have been expected to attend University but they could not do so. Perhaps it also explains the quest within Cadburys for the ideal recipe for chocolate.

The first Quaker school was established in 1668 by George Fox himself and by 1671 there were 15 such educational institutions. There was further expansion as direct – but not indirect – persecution eased with the passage of the Toleration Act of 1689. The cultural impact of persecution, however, led Quakers to seek Quaker teachers and imposed Quaker discipline in Quaker schools. Certain subjects – music and dance, for example, lay outside the acceptable bounds of Quaker culture, but the consequence was that more attention was paid to practical subjects, ranging from construction to agriculture.

In the run-up to the industrial transformation of England in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Quaker culture had been successfully transmitted into the new age. The Quaker school was a key means of this transmission. Ironically, as persecution eased, Quaker numbers declined. Education, however, became ever more important. Dr John Fothergill, a prominent Quaker born in 1714, was concerned that the existing Quaker schools were struggling. Together with David Barclay and the York tea merchant William Tuke, the necessary funds were raised and plans laid for a new fee-paying Quaker school at Ackworth. The school was in essence an extended Quaker family. This was precisely how many Quakers would subsequently run their businesses. Among the many functions exercised by Ackworth and other Quaker schools was ensuring that ‘its pupils would remain Quakers’. It did so by consolidating family ties, providing opportunities for marriage and in preparation for life as a Quaker. Ackworth officially opened in 1779. In 1816 John Joseph Gurney, the prominent Quaker banker, worried about the lack of scriptural knowledge at the school made provision for each pupil to receive a Bible upon arrival, rather than as a leaving gift. This simple act was a symptom of a problem that faced the Quakers: was their dependence on Scripture or the inner light? The Quaker moral code was dependent, for many, on the objective teaching of Scripture. However, the wider vision for society often drew upon that inner light of conscience. The Quakers were not exempt from theological disputes.

Ackworth became a regional center of importance for the Quaker movement. The links to the Quaker involvement in industry are amply demonstrated by the foundation of Friends Provident in 1831. Two former scholars of the school, Samuel Tuke and Joseph Rowntree, were particularly concerned about the consequences for the wife and family of a young teacher there, Henry Brady, who died in 1828 at the age of 30. Responsibility for caring for the family fell upon the Quaker ‘Monthly Meeting’. The two businessmen demonstrated a fascinating insight into how to bring commercial practice to bear in the solution of social problems. The 1831 annual gathering of Friends at the school agreed to establish a life assurance society for the benefit of Friends. In the first instance the classes of business to be written were annuities, endowment life policies and children’s deferred policies. The initial capital was subscribed in 1832 by 45 prominent Quakers at 5 per cent. The promoters saw their plans as appropriate provision for families rather than any distrust in God, and were quite open about the commercial benefit of longer than average life expectancy among the Friends. Suggestions that the idea of life assurance amounted to a ‘lottery’, speculation or gambling were rejected; such ideas were anathema to the Friends. The initial memorandum summarized the position well:

[the Institution] is not a charitable association, but it simply enables those who unite in it to help themselves.

A further impact of exclusion was the increase in the provision of apprenticeships within the Quaker community, often financed through the wills of Quaker families. The Quakers came closer together through the impact of persecution, and apprenticeships within the community were one way of ensuring continued community cohesion and indeed the passing on of Quaker culture and values. Apprenticeship thus served the dual function of preparation for a trade and the preserving of cultural identity. So Abraham Darby was apprenticed to a Birmingham Quaker, married within the Friends and became a partner in a Bristol metal company before moving to Coalbrookdale. Joseph Crosfield was apprenticed to a Quaker chemist prior to establishing his own soap-making business. Apprenticeship was, of course, a normal route into industry at the time. George Fox had emphasized the importance of apprenticeships and provided for the necessary oversight of the ‘Monthly Meetings’ and indeed for their financial provision. Many Quaker businesses were family concerns and these also provided ready routes into the business for family members – for example, the Pease family with its extensive interests in wool, weaving and banking as well as mining and railways.

Good business practice, innovation, entrepreneurship and a passion for education and training – not least given the exclusion from the universities – all contributed to Quaker entry into business. All of these characteristics were encouraged by the Quaker experience. Similarly, these practices and experiences together formed and shaped the Quaker culture that provided the context and setting for the business enterprise. A strong culture is central to business success. An inquisitive and creative mind is crucial for both entrepreneurial and technological success. The Quakers provided both. Only as the Quaker culture weakened did many Quaker business families begin to move away from Quaker principles.

-excerpted from “Quaker Capitalism: Lessons for today” by Richard Turnbull (2014)