Victoria Works, Lane Delph, Fenton
| From | To | Occupier | Comments |
|
1796 |
1800 | Miles Mason and George Wolfe | (tenants of the Revd. John Wolfe). manufacturing earthenware. |
| 1800 | 1806 | Miles Mason | Mason then began to make porcelain on his own at the Victoria Works. In 1806 or 1807 he moved to the larger Minerva Works; the Victoria Works was then described as 'new erected' |
| 1807 | 1811 | Messrs. Ginder | |
| 1811 | 1859 | Samuel Ginder and Company, also Ginder & Co |
held
at least between 1811 and 1843. Recorded as
Ginder and Hulse 1828-1830. In 1859 the works were advertised to let. |
| 1861 | 1861 | J & B Wathen | recorded in the trade directories only in the year 1861 |
| 1862 | 1863 | Messrs. Wathen and Lichfield | recorded in the trade directories only in the years 1862 and 63 |
| 1864 | 1869 | James Bateman Wathen | also noted as Wathen & Co in 1864. |
| 1870 | 1940+ | James Reeves | a James Reeves was still working the Victoria works in 1940. |
| by 1950 | ?? | Victoria Porcelain (Fenton) Company | in 1960 they still occupied the works as part of the Victoria and Trentham Potteries. |
The Victoria Works from a 1922 OS
map of Fenton
The Victoria Works from a 1937
photo of the Lane Delph area
"For many years, from about 1811 to 1843, this manufactory was carried on by S. Ginder & Co., and was then held by James Reeves (from 1870), who produced the more ordinary qualities of earthenware. This firm continued to 1948"
Jewitt's Ceramic Art of Great Britain 1800-1900"In Lane Delph also are entitled to notice, the House and Manufactory, of Thomas Carey, Esq. also of S. Ginders, Esq.,
...... It is also stated that the younger Mr. Astbury erected part of the premises now the property of Mr. S. Ginders."
"History of the Staffordshire Potteries" Simon Shaw 1829".... another occupied by – GINDER & Co., and the China Manufactory of GREEN and RICHARDS are also seated at Middle-Fenton."
The Borough of Stoke-upon-Trent" John Ward 1843“The pottery in Market Street (now King Street), later known as the Victoria Works, was occupied from 1796 by Miles Mason and George Wolfe as the tenants of the Revd. John Wolfe. Mason had become a prosperous china and glass merchant in Fenchurch Street, London, in the early 1780's and began to make china at Liverpool in partnership with Thomas Wolfe of Stoke and John Lucock in 1796; the Fenton factory was used for the production of earthenware. Both partnerships were dissolved in 1800, and Mason then began to make porcelain on his own at the Victoria Works, moving in 1802 from Chigwell (Essex) to an 'excellent modern-built sash-window house' adjoining the works. The business evidently prospered, and in 1806 or 1807 he moved to the larger Minerva Works; the Victoria Works was then described as 'new erected'. It was held by Messrs. Ginder from 1807 and by Samuel Ginder and Company between at least 1811 and 1843. Messrs. Wathen and Lichfield held it by 1863, and from 1864 it was in the hands of James Bateman Wathen alone. In 1869 or 1870 he was followed by James Reeves, and a James Reeves was still working there in 1940. The works was held some ten years later by the Victoria Porcelain (Fenton) Company which still (1960) occupies it as part of the Victoria and Trentham Potteries. The house, held by a firm of building contractors c.1951, was demolished in 1959. Its symmetrical two-storied front had a pedimented doorcase, flanking Venetian windows, and a central pediment at eaves level.”
The Victoria History of the county of Stafford vol VIII" 1963
Questions/comments/contributions? email: Steve Birks
26 October 2005
