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.
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] He donated several paintings to Leeds Art Gallery including work by Hubert von Herkomer in 1899.