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,[2] 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.[3]
