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Stoke-on-Trent - Potworks of the week |
Robinson and Leadbeater, Wolfe Street, Stoke
Robinson and Leadbeater operated from their large works on the corner of Wolfe Street and Back Glebe Street from 1864-1924. They also operated a works at nearby Wharf Street from 1870 to about 1880. Adverts state the firm was established in 1850 - (although nothing is presented to show how this date was arrived at - it is the date that their predecessor Giovanni Meli started in business)
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1898 map of The Glebe area of
Stoke town
the works of Robinson and Leadbeater,
shown in red, are on the corner of Wolfe Street and Back Glebe Street
the Trent and Mersey (right hand side) and Newcastle to Stoke canals are shown
in blue
at the top left of the map are the Spode works
2011 Google map of the same
area
The land once occupied by Robinson
& Leadbeater is now the Kingsway Car Park.
Wolfe Street
was split in two and renamed South Wolfe Street and Kingsway -
Kingsway was named for the 1913 visit of King George V and Queen Mary to
formally open the
Kings Hall which was built as an extension to Stoke Town Hall.
The Trent & Mersey canal
is on the right of the map, the Newcastle Canal fell
into disuse and was filled in long ago.
Between the canal and Stoke Church many properties were demolished to
make way for the A500 dual carriageway.
Messrs. Robinson and Leadbeater, Wolfe Street, Stoke. "In the manufacture of Parian statuary we understand that this firm is very prominent in the country. Established in 1850, their business has experienced the steady increase which is only obtained by careful attention to the details of the manufacture and of turning out their goods in the best style. In the large and imposing premises at the corner of Wolfe Street and Back Glebe Street they employ a large staff of artists and sculptors, who are constantly at work giving vent to artistic ideas, and while examining the extensive show rooms we were delighted to observe the beautiful specimens of statuary, busts, vases, plaques, etc., too numerous to detail here. Messrs. Robinson and Leadbeater have to be congratulated upon their staff, both of artists and sculptors, by whom they are well supported, and enabled to give studios in art which are so much appreciated by a discerning public. It would be superfluous here to go into the details of the manufactures exemplified by this firm, but by their mechanical appliances Messrs. Robinson and Leadbeater have, of course, been able to reduce the cost of production, and it is within their power, therefore, to place in the market many beautiful specimens at prices which not so long ago would hove been considered ridiculously small. The large quantity sent out from these works is not confined to the home market alone, but the foreign and colonial markets are also extensive purchasers." from: A descriptive
account of The Potteries (illustrated)
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Parian Busts by Robinson and
Leadbeater
General Gordon (1885), Cecil Rhodes (1900), Baden-Powell (1900)
picture of busts: angloboerwarmuseum.com
Robinson and Leadbeater
mark
from: 1907 Staffordshire Sentinel 'Business
Reference Guide to The Potteries, Newcastle & District'
Wolfe Street (31, Church Street)
British Widows Assurance Co., Ltd. Manager, F. Haywood British Widows Ordinary and Industrial Assurance Co., Ltd . Superintendent, John Morris (district office)
7 Noccetti, Antony, oyster merchant Moore, Bernard, consulting potter Wood, Leonard, tile merchant
—Here is Glebe Street—
Hancock, S. and Sons, earthenware manufacturers, Gordon Works. Atlas China Co.,Ltd., Atlas China Works. Robinson and Leadbeater, Ltd., parian manufacturers, busts of celebrities.
—Here is Glebe Street—
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