George Cadbury’s Story Short Version George Cadbury loved cricket, football, golf, hockey and tennis and he also loved God. He wanted to make his chocolate factory honour the teachings of the Bible. He had a great love for all the men and women who worked for him. He built them houses with gardens and paid them good wages. He built them a swimming pool, cricket pitches and provided free dental and medical care. His work can teach us about the kingdom of God. Longer Version What’s the worst job you’ve ever had? It can’t be as bad as being a miner working in total darkness for 15 hours a day. Can you imagine working in a factory where the work is incredibly hard and boring and you are paid almost nothing? Tragically this was the lot of many poor people in 19th century Britain. Let’s explore the life of a Christian who cared passionately about the misery that awful work can bring to men, women and children. George Cadbury was born in Edgbaston near Birmingham in 1839. His father, John Cadbury was a tea and coffee dealer. The Cadbury family were members of the Society of Friends and they sent George to the local Quaker School. His childhood was spent in a loving and deeply religious family. At the age of 22 George and his elder brother, Richard took over the family business and in 1873 they stopped selling tea and coffee and concentrated on chocolate. Their name is now a byword for excellent confectionary that many of us consume on a weekly/daily basis. As Christians both men believed strongly that the happiness and well-being of their employees was one of the chief aims of the business. They were profit-sensitive without being profit-driven. They were quite happy to make an honest ‘coin’ but not at their employees’ expense. Both of the Cadbury boys loved sport. George loved football, cricket, tennis, swimming and golf. George admitted late in life that the first thing he turned to in his daily paper was the cricket news. He was also keen on early morning cold baths! What was it like to work in the Cadbury chocolate factory? Well each day began with Bible readings and prayers for all! The working day was considerably shorter than many other factories of the time. George introduced half-days on Saturdays and bank holiday closing. In 1893, when the premises became too small, George decided to build a factory in the country. They called this new site “Bournville”. On this site the brothers provided football and cricket fields, a huge playground for children, swings and even an open air swimming pool! Utterly unheard of at the time! Employees were encouraged to have fun and the sporting and recreational facilities were fantastic. Sometimes Cadbury would tell his employees to knock off early and everyone would enjoy playing and watching a cracking game of cricket. On one occasion the brothers took all eleven wickets in a match. George once bought his employees a bicycle of the bone-shaker type, which they used to learn to ride on during the lunch-break. Inside the factory there were warm cloakrooms for drying wet clothes and kitchen facilities for cooking food. The brothers also built superb houses for their employees. Every house had a spacious garden for growing vegetables. Fruit trees were planted and the garden dug over before each new owner moved in. Trees were planted along the wide roads. Imagine moving from a rat-infested slum dwelling to a wonderful garden estate! You would probably shout – “The kingdom of God is here!” Later George built schools and a shopping area for his employees. Cadbury campaigned for old-age pensions and fought against grim ‘sweated’ labour. He even paid £60,000 of his own money into pension funds for his employees! On his estate he had a special building constructed and each year thousands of deprived children found in the spacious grounds every delight that could appeal to them – swings and cricket, races and games and above all the open-air swimming pool. When George died in 1922 , his funeral was attended by over 16,000 people. What can we learn from the life of George Cadbury? When we reflect deeply about the life of George Cadbury we can learn a great deal about the kingdom of God. God wants all people to enjoy meaningful work which makes them smile and chuckle. We know from the Bible that God hates oppression, injustice and slavery. God loves to watch grown-ups and children having fun and enjoying his rich creation. That is why He created us in the beginning. The teaching of Jesus is filled with God’s commandments. Love God and love your neighbour. George Cadbury responded in an imaginative way to the gospel message. He manufactured first-rate confectionary to the glory of God. His employees could hear and see the biblical message. By way of contrast we must remember that many 19th century factory owners did not love their employees in the Cadbury fashion. Often they treated their workers as if they were slaves and instruments. They exploited and destroyed the lives of poor people who are made in God’s image. Many of these people worshipped the false god – Mammon. Sadly this worship of money is alive and popular today. Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler puts it like this: “That’s the problem with football, The King of kings Jesus Christ is extremely unhappy with both factories and football clubs that treat vulnerable people with such cruelty and disdain. From a Christian point of view it’s bang out of order! |