In the early part of the 20th century William Shufflebottom started a wholesale business (William Shufflebottom Ltd) in Manchester which traded in glass, china, fancy goods and general household items. 

William's son Oswald invested in several pottery companies, one of which was Ford and Sons, who used the backstamp Crownford. During and after the Second World War, he bought the Queens Pottery on Sutherland Road Longton, which had been operated by George Warrilow & Co, and started Rosina China Company. He also bought Taylor and Kent Ltd on Uttoxeter Road.

William's grandson - also named Oswald, and known as Dougal, became the MD of William Shufflebottom Ltd, and his older brother Derek ran the various Pottery Companies. 

The family also ran a screen printing business making transfers called Transcreen.

Ford & Sons - In 1938 the Burslem based company of Ford & Sons was purchased by Oswald Shufflebottom and was renamed Ford & Sons (Crownford) Ltd.

Rosina China Co Ltd - Around 1941 the brothers Oswald & Derek Shufflebottom acquired the business of George Warrilow & Son. It was renamed to Rosina China Co. Ltd.

Taylor & Kent - In 1947 the Longton based Taylor & Kent was purchased. 

Elizabethan Fine Bone China Ltd - In 1982 Taylor & Kent was renamed to Elizabethan Fine Bone China Ltd.

Crownford China Ltd -  In September 1987 Elizabethan Fine Bone China merged with Rosina China Co. Ltd. and from June 1988 they operated under the temporary name of 'Crownford Holdings Ltd'.  In January 1989 the merged companies became Crownford China Co. Ltd. 

In 1994 Crownford China was sold to the Churchill Group. 

The above information was kindly supplied by John Shufflebottom (great grandson of William), who also supplied the following commentary: 

"I joined Rosina in about 1972. My cousin Peter, Derek's son, joined Taylor and Kent a little before me. Although both companies exported a considerable amount of their output, Taylor and Kent operated more in the home market making a range of tableware and coffee mugs, and as such developed the Elizabethan Brand to help market their output.
Rosina, on the other hand exported most of its output (at times 90%+) which mainly comprised "collectors" cups and saucers. Exporting such a large portion of the output put the company at risk of the vagaries of exchange rate fluctuations, so the Queen's brand was developed to create a home marketable product, and try to stabilize demand.

The Crownford China Company was formed when we decided to merge the two businesses in the 1980's to try to generate economies of scale in manufacturing and reduce business costs, but still to continue with the Queen's and Elizabethan brand names which had been developed over the years for Rosina and Taylor & Kent respectively. We needed a new name for the new company, and it was decided that as there was some history in the businesses owned by the family, to use the name of the Ford and Company backstamp Crownford.

So, there is a connection between Crownford China Company, the Crownford backstamp, which the new company used occasionally, and Rosina China and Taylor & Kent, and it goes back to the family ownership of Ford & Sons."