Roman Catholics
in Cobridge
the Warburton family:
In 1766
members of the Warburton family were prominent among the list of trustees of the
Cobridge school.
They were a
Catholic family and originality were tenants of the Biddulph
family on part of the Grange
estate. They bought a large part of the land sold by the Biddulph family on
the east side of the estate. Here in the early 18th century John Warburton built
a Potworks for the manufacture of white stoneware with a considerable export
trade to Holland.
By the time
he died in 1752 he had amassed a considerable property which included an estate
in Cheshire for which he paid £1,000 as well as land in Cobridge.
His two sons
operated two separate potteries. John Warburton, the eldest, ran a works in Hot
Lane until his death at the age of 40 in 1760. The younger son, Joseph Warburton,
had a Potworks in Cobridge which he worked until his death in 1769.
the Blackwell family:
The other
important Catholic family in Cobridge was the Blackwell family.
They had arrived
in the area by the early 1770s and John and Joseph Blackwell were listed as
manufacturers of blue and white stone ware, cream and painted wares in
Bailey’s Directory in 1784.
By the end of the 18th century John Blackwell ran
one of the largest pottery factories in Cobridge and was the owner of two other
Potworks in the vicinity. He built a large house in front of the works at the
junction of Elder Road and Waterloo Road. Behind the factory he built a row of
19 cottages to house some of his employees. His house, factory and the cottages
have all been demolished but the road at the back of the site is still called
Blackwells Row today.
The Warburton and the Blackwell families were the
principal supporters of the Roman Catholic community in the area. In 1780 they
helped to finance the construction of a small Catholic chapel at the end of what
is now Grange Street then the lane leading to Rushton Grange Farm.
| John Ward in
his book The Borough of Stoke-upon-Trent (1843) recorded that:
“the walls of this
chapel had just been raised above the ground when the Protestant riots in
London, with which the name of Lord George Gordon is associated, took place, and
the alarmed Catholics of Cobridge suspended their building for several months...
The chapel was enlarged in 1816; it is calculated to accommodate about 150
persons, is an unassuming building, almost concealed by the Priest’s
dwelling-house, and an adjoining school-house erected in 1822.”
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When Samuel
Scriven’s produced his report for the Royal Commission on Children’s
Employment (1841) the school attached to the church was only partially in use and
heavily in debt to Mr Blackwell:
“Ann Lymer,
aged 21: I am the mistress of this school, and have held the appointment since
last May my mother was mistress here many years. There was a master for the boys
school, but the funds of the school compelled him to leave, consequently the
boy’s school has merged into the girls, and our number upon the books score
together 88. The institution is supported by a few subscriptions; there are only
24 in regular attendance, who pay 2d per week towards their education; many of
them do not pay on account of their poverty. I have no other income, and what
I receive does not amount to more than £10 a year upon the average; this
would not alone support me, and I am compelled to take in needlework. The school
house is in great debt to Mr Blakewell. The system of education is similar to
the Lancastrian; there is no form of worship used, because we admit children of
all denominations, the greater part of those present are parents of other
faiths. The hours of admitting them are from 9 to 12, and from 2 to 5, five days
a week. There is a Sunday school held on the same premises, but with this I have
nothing to do. The absence of other children results from the poverty of
parents, and of their being taken early to work.
REMARK: This
room is on a very large scale, lofty, well ventilated and healthy, capable of
accommodating at least 500 children comfortably there is only 24 present.
February 1.
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