• William Moorcroft (b.1872 d.1945) was the son of Thomas Moorcroft who "was not only a potter but an artist of fine sensibility".   

• William studied art at the Wedgwood Institute, Burslem then at the National Art Training School (now the Royal College of Art) in South Kensington and Paris. In 1897 he was awarded an Art Master's Certificate in 1897.
  

William Moorcroft at James Macintyre & Co:

• The same year, 1897, he "returned to Burslem at the age of 26 and commenced his career as a potter with James MacIntyre and Co., where, as designer of electrical porcelain and other pottery, he developed his talent, earning the Gold Medal at the St. Louis Exhibition, 1904." (1956 article on Moorcroft ). 

• James Macintyre & Co were predominantly manufacturers of industrial ceramics. In order to capitalise on the popular souvenir market they had started to produce crested ware. Around 1894 the opened an art pottery studio, employing established designers who introduced Faience ware incorporating raised slip and tube lined designs.

• By happy coincidence for Moorcroft the senior designer, Harry Barnard, left Macintyre in 1897 to design for Wedgwood. The following year Moorcroft was put in full charge of the company's art pottery studio as Chief Designer. 

• Moorcroft proved to be very successful, introducing popular designs such as "Dura, "Florian", "Aurelian" and "Hesperian". Moorcroft designed ware won a number of medals at international fairs and was distributed by Liberty in London and Tiffany in New York. 

• It appears that the success of the artistically decorated ware over the more mundane industrial ceramics cause some friction between Macintyre and Moorcroft which led to William Moorcroft setting up his own works in nearby Cobridge with financial backing from Lasenby Liberty - Alwyn Ernest Lasenby was appointed one of the directors along with William Moorcroft. 

Moorcroft 1913-1984:

• The following notice appeared in the May 1913 edition of the Pottery Gazette:

• In 1913 William married Florence Lovibond, a local Factory Inspector.  

• W. Moorcroft Ltd. was incorporated on the 25th April 1913.  William Moorcroft held the 1,300 "A" shares and Alwyn Ernest Lasenby the "B" shares. The voting power was one vote for every A share and two votes for every B share - which gave Lasenby overall control of the business.  

• In 1928 Moorcroft received an appointment as Potter to Queen Mary, with the right to display the Royal Arms. In the same year Moorcroft married Marian Lasenby (his previous wife having died), who was related to the Lasenby Liberty family. 

• William Moorcroft had three children, Walter, William John Scarlin (usually called John) and Beatrice.  

• William Moorcroft died in 1945 aged 73, and control of the business passed to his son Walter Moorcroft. The company's royal warrant was re-issued in his name in 1946.

• During the Second World Ware utility goods were produced under the Wartime Concentration Scheme. Following the war the manufacture of art ware recommenced. 

• The Liberty store's interest was bought out by Moorcroft in 1962.

• Rising fuel costs and labour intensive decorating methods meant that by the early 1980s the company faced financial problems. In 1984 the Moorcroft business was sold to the Roper brothers who owned James Broadhurst & Sons and Churchill China. However attempts to drag the small art pottery of Moorcroft into mass production failed and two years later the firm faced liquidation.

Moorcroft 1986-:

• Around 1986 London solicitor Hugh Richard Edwards, who was then working on a book about Moorcroft, together with Richard Dennis and their wives then stepped in to save the firm. At that time Moorcroft only had 16 employees. They appointed John Moorcroft (William John Scarlin) as managing director to act as an ambassador for the company and boosted annual turnover from around £245,000 to the current (2001) five million pounds plus. 

• In 1992, Hugh Edwards became chairman of W. Moorcroft Ltd. By 2000 the company employed around 220 staff. 

• In 2001 a new production facility was built in Nile Street, Burslem with plans to create 180 new jobs and expand sales to the US and Canadian markets.

• In the 2000s Hugh Edwards was a director of The Burslem Regeneration Co. Ltd. and the Ceramic Industry Forum. In May 1998 he was instrumental in creating Cobridge Pottery Ltd. which, in 2018, changed its name to James Macintyre & Co. Ltd. (both dormant companies).  

• December 2001 the well known antiquarian, Eric Knowles was appointed as a non-executive director. He promotes the company through lectures, presentations and on-line activities.    

• A statement in the company accounts for 2002/3 "To protect the Moorcroft brand, the directors expect to incur in the year to 31 July 2003 to cover legal costs and expenses in their fight against cheap fakes and look-a-likes imported from a factory or factories in China."  

• John Moorcroft stepped down from the business in March 2006. which ended the Moorcroft family connection with the business.  

• Walter Moorcroft, the eldest son of William Moorcroft died in September 2002. Before Walter retired in the late 80s, he had designed five limited editions: Pineapple Plant, Chestnut, Tulip, Maize and Wild Arum. He was awarded an OBE in 1999.

• The younger son, William John Scarlin Moorcroft, died in January 2022, aged 83.

• Citing rising costs and reduced sales, in April 2025 with the loss of 57 jobs, the company announced that the business had stopped trading and was entering voluntary liquidation.

• In June 2025 it was announced that Will Moorcroft, the grandson of the original William Moorcroft, had bought the business out of liquidation. 

William founded the company in 1913.  

When William died in 1945 control of the business passed to the eldest son Walter, who retired in the late 1980s.

Appointed Managing Director c.1986 - John stepped down from the business in 2006.

Grandson of William Moorcroft - Will bought the business out of liquidation in June 2025.  

source: photo by Hay Wrightson 1928

source: 'Memories of Life & Living'  1999

credit: Sentinel Newspaper 2013

 credit: BBC June 2025 

Page 42 of the Pottery Gazette Diary for 1917 showing adverts for both James Macintyre and William Moorcroft - this was after the two parted company in 1912 and Moorcroft started his own business in 1913.

Macintyre had reverted to advertising the manufacturer of industrial ceramics whereas Moorcroft was advertising 'Hand-made decorative objects'.   

The works were designed to reflect the social and legislative concern for health, hygiene, and functionalism, and were one of the first single storey factories to be built in the Stoke-on-Trent Potteries.  It is a single storey factory, nine rooms wide by four rooms deep. The ovens were circular updraught kilns which have no hovel (the bottle shaped brick structure built to fully enclose the oven). 

No doubt the design of the factory was influenced by the fact that in 1913, the same year the factory was built, William married Florence Lovibond, a local Factory Inspector. 

The initial small factory was completed for production in ten weeks. Due to interruptions from the First World War, construction was in three stages: the core, including one bottle oven in 1913, and two surrounding structures, with more ovens, in 1915 and 1919-20. 

Moorcroft chose a site that overlooked Cobridge Park and was alongside the North Staffordshire Potteries Loop Line Railway.