York – Sweet City

Mary Ann Craven

Growing up in York involved being surrounded by sweets! People are often surprised when I correct them in the shop if they talk about the two sweet manufacturers. There were three – and the third one was run by a very determined lady…

So, who are they all?

Henry Isaac Rowntree bought the Tukes chocolate business in 1862 and started to produce Tukes’s superior cocoa, which was the forerunner to Rowntrees cocoa. He relocated the business to Tanners Moat in 1864. This was to become Rowntrees.

Joseph Terry, an apothecary, married into a small confectionery business. He gave up the chemist and druggist work and started working with confectionery recipes. In 1826 he took over the business in St Helens Square, and by the 1840s Terrys was on its way to becoming a successful chocolate company.

On to that determined lady… in 1851 Mary Ann Hick married Thomas Craven and they set up a family business in premises in Pavement. Sadly, Mary lost her father and her husband within two years of each other and was left with three young children, her father’s business and her husband’s business. She took on the challenge and eventually moved M A Cravens to Coppergate where the business stayed until 1966.

This is a very potted history but all three companies were entwined in various ways and set about making York the confectionery capital that it was for a very long time.