Joseph Hepworth (tailor)

English businessman (1834–1911)

For the Member of Parliament of the same name, see Joseph Hepworth.

Joseph Hepworth (1834–1911) was the clothing manufacturer who founded Joseph Hepworth & Son, a company which grew to become the United Kingdom's largest clothing manufacturer and which is now known as Next plc.

## Career[edit]

Born at Lindley in Huddersfield, Joseph Hepworth left school at ten to join George Walker's Mill in Leeds in 1844.[1]

In 1864 Joseph Hepworth went into business with his brother-in-law James Rhodes as a tailor in Leeds.[1] By 1881 their factory in Wellington Street employed 500 people and, unusually for the time, made all three pieces of a gentlemen's three-piece suit.[1] In the 1880s they innovated further establishing shops to sell their suits direct to the public.[1] By 1890 they employed 2,000 operatives who sold their stock through 107 shops.[1]

Joseph Hepworth died in Harrogate in 1911 and within 6 years of his death Joseph Hepworth & Son was the largest clothing manufacturer in the United Kingdom.[1] He donated several paintings to Leeds Art Gallery including work by Hubert von Herkomer in 1899.[2]

## Family[edit]

Hepworth married Sarah Hepworth, née Rhodes on 8 December 1855 they went on to have three sons and four daughters.[1]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f g Joseph Hepworth at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
2. ^ "Back to Life". Art UK. Retrieved 3 November 2023.

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