• 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 summarises 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. 

See more on the Shufflebottom family

F & Sons 
B
England

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

F & Sons Ltd
Burslem
England 

"LTD" appears after 1908

F & S
B
England
Milford Ware 

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

F & S
B
England
Imperial Windsor
 Ware 

1930's

F & S
B
England
Sandford Ware 

1930's

Oxford Ware serving dish 

standard shapes were produced and decorated in the different patterns
compare this dish with the Sandford ware dish above

F & S
B
England
Oxford Ware 

1930's

Genuine
Dorothy Dale
on
Crown Ford
Ware 

1930's

F & Sons 
B
England

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

F & Sons 
Burslem

F & Sons 
B

A characteristic late 1920s/1930s Art Deco-influenced design combining stylised floral motifs with geometric panels and gilt decoration.

• Dinner ware with this pattern has been found bearing the “Sunderland Ware” mark as shown. 

•  Ware with the identical pattern also found bearing the Ford & Sons Crownford, Burslem mark. 
  

NOTE: It is not known whether Ford & Sons used “Sunderland Ware” as a trade name or mark, or whether the pattern was produced by Ford & Sons for another firm using the Sunderland Ware name. 
The significance of the bird-and-“TH” mark on the Sunderland Ware examples has not yet been established.

Sunderland Ware
Made in England
image of bird perched on a
stand made of the letters 'TH' 

Crownford
Burslem
England
F&S (monogram)

Moulded and hand painted vase with the 
mark of F & Sons Ltd of Burslem 

   Ford and Sons used a multitude of trade names
for their ware