Ford & Sons






 

Location and period of operation:

Ford & Sons (Ltd)

Burslem

1893

1938

 

Earthenware manufacturer at the Lower Manufactory, Newcastle Street, Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England
  • Thomas Ford had been involved as a pottery manufacturer with a number of partners since at least 1868, (some records give 1865). In 1893 the business of Ford & Riley closed and became Ford & Sons. 

  • The '& Sons' were Thomas Isaac and Sampson Hancock Ford. 

  • In January 1902 Thomas Ford retired and the business was continued by his two sons - the name 'Ford & Sons' was retained. 

  • The business was incorporated as Ford & Sons Ltd in 1908. Notice in the June 1908 Pottery Gazette - "Ford & Sons Ltd - Registered capital, £15,000 in £1 shares. Objects, to take over the business of earthenware manufacturers carried on by T. I. Ford and S. H. Ford, at the Lower Manufactory, Newcastle- st., Burslem, as "Ford & Sons.” The subscribers are Mr. T. I. Ford, Mrs. S. L. Ford, Mrs. M. A. Ford, Messrs. S. H. Ford, J. Robinson, A. J. Copey, and F. W. Hodgkinson." 

  • Notice in the January 1913 Pottery Gazette sumarises the will of S. H. Ford... "Mr. Sampson Hancock Ford, of Blackwood, Horton, Staffs., left estate valued at £13,248 13s. 1d., with net personalty £9,534 13s. 4d. Testator left £500 upon trust for life to his brother-in-law, John Edward Meir, then to his wife Betsy M. Meir, for life, with remainder to the United Methodist Church, called Mount Tabor, at Tunstall ; £500 upon trust for life to his sister-in-law, Sarah Jane Walters, with remainder to his niece, Dorothy Hodgkinson ; 250 shares in Ford & Sons, Ltd., Burslem, to his works manager, Joseph Robinson, in the hope that he will continue to be works manager."

  •  The business was purchased in 1938 by Oswald Shufflebottom. He renamed the business Ford & Sons (Crownford) Ltd

 

Previously: Ford & Riley

Subsequently: Ford & Sons (Crownford) Ltd

 


The London Gazette
24th January 1902
 


notice that Thomas Ford had left the business
which continued as Ford & Sons
 

 


 


set of jugs in the Poppies pattern 


F & Sons 
B
England

c.1893-1908
"B" stands for the town of BURSLEM 

 


 

 


Gravy boat in the transfer-ware Weir pattern 


F & Sons Ltd
Burslem
England 

"LTD" appears after 1908

 

 


 


Milford Ware - covered cheese dish 


F & S
B
England
Milford Ware 

1930's
"B" stands for the town of BURSLEM 

 


 


Sandford Ware salad dish and serving dish 


F & S
B
England
Sandford Ware 

1930's

 

 


 

 


Hand painted plate
Dorothy Dale
 


Genuine
Dorothy Dale
on
Crown Ford
Ware 

1930's



 

 


serving dish with lid

 


 

 


coffee pot in TULIP pattern 

 



Marks & initials used on ware for identification:

 

F & S

 

F & S
B
"B" stands for the town of BURSLEM 

 

F & S
BURSLEM

F & Sons LTD
"LTD" may appear after 1908

 


Trade names used in the 1930's

DOROTHY DALE

NEWCRAFT WARE


CrownFord

Crownford Ware

Milford Ware

Oxford Ware

Sandford Ware

 Ford & Sons used a number of trade names 
with the word 'ford' in them

 


 

 


F & Sons 
B
England

this Trade Mark with the bee symbol
was used by the predecessor Ford & Riley 


F & Sons 
Burslem

 


F & Sons 
B

 

c.1893-1908

often the pattern name is included 
"B" stands for the town of BURSLEM 

 


 


F & Sons 
BURSLEM

c.1893-1908

BALMORAL is the pattern name

C.W.S. stands for the 
Co-operative Wholesale Society
who were the retailer


 


F & Sons Ltd
Burslem
England 

"LTD" appears after 1908

WEIR is the pattern name

 


 


BURSLEM  F&S  ENGLAND 


Crownford
B
URSLEM  F&S  ENGLAND 

MOORLAND is the pattern name

these marks were used from the 1930's by Ford & Sons
it was continued by Ford & Sons (Crownford) Ltd from c.1938 


 


F & S
B
England
Sandford Ware 

F & S
B
England
Milford Ware 

marks from the 1930's
"B" stands for the town of BURSLEM 

 


 


 
Crownford
F & Sons  
BURSLEM  ENGLAND 


CrownFord
Made in
England

marks from the 1930's

 


 

Vase with the mark of F & Sons Ltd of Burslem - however it is possibly a 'pass off' - produced by someone else to appear as having been made by Ford & Sons. 

   Ford and Sons used the trade name 'Crownford' - and were not recorded as using 'Cranford', also the lettering underneath the crown is not properly alligned


F & Sons Ltd
Cranford Ware
Burslem
England

photos courtesy:  Lucia Morales

 


Newcastle Street,
Burslem


Ford and Sons, earthenware manufacturers 

from: 
1907 Staffordshire Sentinel 
'Business Reference Guide to The Potteries, Newcastle & District'

 


 

 
Ford & Sons - Lower Manufactory - 1929

- click for more - 

 


Questions, comments, contributions? email: Steve Birks